Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

Here is a litte butterfly with feather-like wings photographied in New Hampshire last July.

I know it is a Pterophoridae but no idea about the genus/species...

Any ideas???

Thank you very much for your so appreciated help...

Michel
Quebec Canada
http://parcours.pilonm.org

Hi Michel,

Have you found an i.d. yet? If not, I have a few tips. A site I forgot to tell you about is the North American Moth Photographers Group which you can find here mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/MainMenu.shtml . What's nice about it, like bugguide, is that they are photos of living moths, not pinned specimens.

As for the plume moths, if you go to the Pterophoridae page and go down to 6203 -- Plume Moth -- Hellinsia homodactylus and H. elliottii you might(?) have a match, problem is, I don't know its range. There is a University of NH Collection list online and it does not include any of the Hellinsia. I linked to it below if you want to take a look. There are no photos, just a search for genus, species, etc.) Back to the top, you will see a link to Debbie Matthew's site who apparently is a Pterophoridae specialist! Maybe you can email her from her site and see if she can i.d.

There is an entry on bugguide which you may have already seen that has a shot of H. homodactylus with wings slightly extended: bugguide.net/node/view/110279#138455 The plume moths are so neat and sweet, but I know many in the larval stage are considered quite pesky

On another note, I went to the main page of your site and see you have a quote by Fabre. I adore him and have almost all of his books on insects including a copy of Le Monde Merveilleux DES Insectes which I got mainly for the plates since I do not read French . I love his writing, curiosity, and never ending
fascination with the natural world and so grateful he put it all on paper. And especially grateful for Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (and other translators) for making it available for the rest of us! So even though I do not know what the quote on your homepage says I know it is beautiful!

let me know what you find out about your little moth.

lele
University of New Hampshire Insect and Arachnid Co