#anisota

An oakworm moth couple mating in the late afternoon sunlight! Although they were in plain sight, I almost missed these guys because my mind was on a leafhopper sitting a couple feet from them. Images I'm used to seeing of this genus mating have the male and female sitting on a relatively flat surface, but these two were trying something new. With how small the male is compared to the female, he's perfectly able to hide behind her bulk. It took me a second to notice his wingtips poking out from behind her!

Probably doesn't taste very good though

- Oddly beautiful! I like the orange stripes. Was a bit disappointed to learn that these guys can cause some major damage to oaks in large numbers. Luckily, I only saw one and we dont have many oaks at my place (lmao). Also. Does anyone else find it funny when taxonomist's call something a 'worm' when it isn't? Like. C'mon guys. Thats not an annelid!

need help coming up with a name for this breeding pair!! they just had their first nest.

Yellow-striped Oakworm Moth - Anisota peigleri

💖 Pink Striped Oakworm Moth 🧡

Realistically, the caterpillar had two reasons why it had to be left alone.  One was it was obviously food for the ants.  If it wasn’t left there, they would have missed a good-sized meal.  On the other hand with the less obvious reason to most, there could have been something wrong with the caterpillar.  It could have been diseased and, if it was, it was better to let the ants take care of the problem.  One person one Facebook said I should have stepped on it to put it out of its misery.  Uh, I wasn’t going to step on it and we can’t step on every animal that’s suffering from an ant attack.  Anyway, I hope the next time I see one it’s not dying or dead.

(Anisota stigma - spiny oakworm moth - Saturniidae)