Florida Butterfly Photos - Moths

by Will Cook

Here's a selection of Lepidoptera images from a trip to south Florida, June 22-29, 2010. All photos were taken using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, most with the addition of a Sony VCL-M3358 close-up lens.

Papilionidae and Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Nymphalidae | Hesperiidae | Moths

Moths

Bella Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix bella)
Near Florida City, Miami-Dade Co., FL 6/23/2010.

Faithful Beauty Moth (Composia fidelissima)

Faithful Beauty Moth (Composia fidelissima)
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo, Monroe Co., FL 6/24/2010.

Found in extreme south Florida as well as the West Indies, the Faithful Beauty is a spectacular black day-flying moth with a stunning red, white, and blue pattern. It looks a lot like a butterfly, but the feathery, knob-less antennae give it away as a moth.

Faithful Beauty caterpillar (Composia fidelissima)

Faithful Beauty Moth (Composia fidelissima)
Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade Co., FL 6/23/2010.

The caterpillars are quite striking, too ‐ red with dark blue spots along the sides. The food plants are various species in the dogbane family, the Apocynaceae.

Papilionidae and Pieridae | Lycaenidae | Nymphalidae | Hesperiidae | Moths


Comments? Questions? E-mail me at cwcook@duke.edu

All photographs and text ©2013 by Will Cook unless otherwise noted.