I don’t know how to even begin identifying moths. I count 32 “superfamilies” of moths, with all the families, subfamilies, and tribes below them taxonomically before one even gets to genus and species. In contrast, butterflies and skippers constitute one superfamily under the order Lepidoptera (“butterflies and moths”).
My field guide says, “[O]f the 12,000 species [of butterflies and moths] known in the United States and Canada, only 760 are butterflies, including the distinctive, relatively small-winged and chunky-bodied butterfly-like insects known as skippers (family Hesperiidae…).” So this specimen, which I found “expired” on the garage floor, is among the 11,240 species of moths known in the US and Canada.
Fortunately, I received a prompt ID from BugGuide, which wasn’t entirely surprising because this guy has quite distinct markings.
» ID’ed as Spiloloma lunilinea or “Moon-lined Moth” at: [ BAMONA ] [ BugGuide ]
» Submitted as Spiloloma lunilinea or “Moon-lined Moth”: iNaturalist
» Species pages: [ BAMONA ] [ BugGuide ] [ iNaturalist ] [ MPG ] [ UK Moths ]
Retired economics professor (“dismal scientist”). Married 40+ years to the love of my life; we have two grown daughters, both married, two granddaughters and a...
