This page has an assortment of moths including the brightly colored Ornate Bella Moth.
Page 5 of 5

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A schinia mitis flower moth sitting on a Carolina false dandelion bloom.
[This triangular-shaped moth is perched across the lower half of the center of the pale yellow flower which has yellow and black stamen in its center. The flower has three bands of petals with each band comprising of 15-20 long thin petals. The moth is contained in the lower half of the center band. The moth is a combination of light and dark brown stripes which follow the outlines of its wings.]

A closer view of the same moth which has a wing-span of less than an inch.
[The moth is eating from one of the stamen of the flower. The hairy section of the body is a combination of light and dark brown. The wing color is alternating stripes of ochre and tan which follow the outlines of the wings.]

A tiny herpetogramma abdominalis moth on the other side of the window
[This moth has two large dark brown eyes, but the rest of the moth is white and light beige. The legs are thin and white. The wings do have a splotchy pattern visible on them which is the beige portion on the white. The wings are fully extended and the complete underside of the moth is visible through the window glass.]

I've not yet found the name for this tiny red moth.
[The moth is perched on the thick yellow stamen of a spanish needle flower with its hind legs on a blade of grass which lies atop one white flower petal. The moth has burgundy red top wings and a lighter red rear wings. The legs are light gray.]

This may be an orange white banded tussock moth.
[Side view of a triangular-shaped white moth with a black eye and what appear to be light orange zig-zag stripes across its wings. It is perched vertically on a blade of grass.]

Pale tiger moth, also known as banded tussock moth, with its green and orange stripes on its thorax
[Top-down view of the moth on a black window ledge beside a window. The moth's wings are behind it and slightly overlapped. There are wavy wide light brown stripes on the tan wings. The thorax head region has two blue-green stripes from the edge of the head going back toward the wings. In between those stripes are two orange stripes. There is a thin section in the middle which is white. Two legs stick out the front.]

Tussock moth caterpillar with its dark antennas and tail. The four beige lumps are very thick hairs grouped in clumps (tussocks). (March 2022)
[Top-down view of a very hairy caterpillar crawling across the concrete. The long antenna and tail are blackish-brown. The body is yellow and orange with the beige tussocks on the back and long white hairs sticking out from all over the body.]

Fir tussock moth caterpillar with its dark antennas blending with the cement. (April 2024)
[Top-down view of a very hairy caterpillar crawling across the dark concrete speckled with light-green moss. The long antenna are black and the tail has a section that is brown with the end section being black. This caterpillar has really fat beige tussocks with short white hairs protruding from them. The rest of the body is balck with yellow clumps on either side. The head section on this one is shorter than the prior caterpillar.]

Red-waisted Florella moth grasping a blade of grass.
[The moth is perched on the underside of the grass blade so part of the moth is hidden. The moth is yellow and brown. The wings are brown with yellow ovals. The legs are striped yellow and brown. The underbelly seems to be mostly yellow. Its thin antenna appear white.]

The underside of a not-yet-identified moth (I didn't get an image of the top of it, so harder to identify it, especially when they are so tiny. Its feet are wrapped around a blade of grass.)
[A blade of grass covers the middle of the moth, but on either side of the blade, the underside of the moth's wings are visible. The moth has near-black eyes and white legs. Its wings are brown and white suggesting a spotted pattern on the top side.]

The underside of a different not-yet-identified moth
[A leaf covers nearly all of one wing, most of the body, and half of the other wing as the moth hangs below the leaf. The underside of the body is white and ends ina triangular shape. The wings are edged with stripes, but the inner part is shades of brown and grey.]

Dusky herpetogramma moth
[This tiny moth has its legs holding the outer edges of the thin vegetation leaf as it faces upward. The moth has a light brown body and brown wings with some dark brown sections and spots. The outer shape of the wings is triangular. This moth has two large brown eyes at the top point of the triangle.]

Female Oakworm moth
[This moth is perched on a white doorjamb which provides significant contrast to the reddish-brown color of the wings and body of this moth. The body is thick and furry-looking. Three legs of the same color and furriness of the body are visible in this top-down view. The wings are two-toned with the outer edges being a darker, more subdued red-brown, while the inner portion is brighter and has one white dot on it.]

I was going to brush off the leaves stuck to the side of the doorframe until I realized the "leaves" had legs.
[A moth with wings which are shades of brown is attached to the wood framing around a door by thick legs.]

This is a male polyphemus moth. The antennae are feathery to make it easier to sniff for females.
[A close view of the feathery antennae and jointed furry legs and body of the moth.]

This is a different male polyphemus moth displaying its inner wing eyes.
[The moth's wings are completely spread with an eye in each of the four wings. The oval eye has a dark center with a thick white rim. The eyes in the lower wings have dark patches around the eye. The wings are shades of brown with some pinkish marks. The outer half inch of all the wings is a dark tan color. The body is yellowish tan.]

Two views of the same polyphemus moth caterpillar
[Two photos spliced together. On the left is the full view of the bright yellow caterpillar with red dots and brown ends as it climbs a railing pole by a concrete curb. The right image is a top down view of one end of the caterpillar with a short hair sticking out of each red dot on its body. The end visible has a brown x shape sort of like a bumper stopper. No idea what it might be.]

A close view of the entire body of the same polyphemus moth caterpillar
[The round areas with little hairs against the pole are probably the feet. At the top end (toward the sky) is the browsn x shape. At the lower end is a brown something which could be a mouth of sorts. The red dots with their single hairs protruding from them seem to go around the top part of each section of the caterpillar.]

Green cutworm moth
[A pale pink-brown moth with its wings folded on its back. There is one darker brown dot on each wing. Its antenna are curved back on either side of its body.]

The bagworm (moth) caterpillar drags its bag with it when it as it travels through life. It creates silk to create the bag and attach the finely chiseled twigs. As it grows, it makes the bag bigger so it can still fit inside. The back half of the caterpillar remains in it as it pulls itself and the bag around to find food. If this is a male then he will develop wings and live long enough to mate. If it is a female, she will remain wingless and, after mating, will lay eggs in the bag.
[The caterpillar is on off-white concrete so details of it and its 'bag' is distinct. The entire ensemble is about 4 incles long with the bag being about 2.5 inches of it. The visible caterpillar part is a series of brown segments. The three segments closest to the head has vertical dark brown and white stripes; the rest are all-brown segments. The long, cylindrical bag consists of a lot of small twig pieces attached to the silk with more silk and less twigs at the end out of which the caterpillar has emerged.]

Two bagworm (moth) caterpillars in their earlier stages of life
[Two photos spliced together. Both photos have one caterpillar hanging from a blade of plant greenery. On the left is a stack of short sticks which are wider at the top and narrow at the end tip. No real 'worm' section of the caterpiller is visilble. On the right the head of the caterpiller is furthest from the plant greenery and only about two thirds of the caterpillar is covered by sticks. The sticks are quite short.]

Mocis moth
[A close view of the body of a smooth, brown-winged creature on the grass who's head is hidden by a blade of grass. There are faint patterns on the wings, but no distinct coloring.]

Withered mocis moth (Withered is part of the name and not an adjective I added to the name.)
[A close top-down view of the body of a brown-winged creature on the grass. This moth is triangular with a dark brown spot on each wing. At the outer edges of the wings is a brown section which is slightly darker than the rest of the wing and it has a series of dark brown stripes with dots at the end.]

Unidentified moth with big eyes and its front right leg curled around the leaf
[Top-down view of a triangular-shaped moth with light brown wings which have darker brown markings at the edges and in stripes across the face of the wings. It's long light-colored antenna project backward from the head and are nearly the length of the wings and appear to lay atop them. Its legs are the same light hue and the front two extend from the body as if the might be the antenna, but the fact the right one is only half visible because it is bent around the leaf makes one realize those are legs and not antenna. The moth has large light-green eyes at the top of its triagular body.]

Another unidentified moth which appears to be different from the prior one based on the pattern on the wings.
[Top-down view of a triangular-shaped moth with medium brown wings which have dark brown markings at the edges and in curved stripes across the face of the wings.]

Polka dot wasp moth.
[Side view of a blue moth with white dots on its body and wings. At the end tip of the body is a red section. The leges of this moth are blue with one or two small white sections.]

A different polka dot wasp moth showing us its lovely white "socks".
[Side view of a blue moth with white dots on its body and wings and a red tail end. The legs and antenna are the same dark blue as the body except the very end section of the legs is white.]

Another polka dot wasp moth showing its ability to hang upside-down.
[Head-on view of the black head with two white dots on the front as all six legs touch the outer underside edges of a wide blade of green vegation. Its wings are outstretched to the sides, but most of the left is covered by a vertical part of the blade.]

Spotted oleander caterpillar moth
[This is a head on view of the moth with its wings extended to the sides. The moth has a blue body with white dots. Its wings are red. The antenna are blue and feathery except for the tips which are yellow. It is perched at the center of a spider lily bloom.]

Side view of the same spotted oleander caterpillar moth makes its yellow-tipped antenna more obvious.
[This is a side view of the moth. The white dots on the body are more visible in this image. Only one red wing can be seen, but from this view the black outer edges of it are visible. The yellow tips of the feathery antenna are more evident because of the contrast color of the background behind them.]

Ornate Bella moth with its yellow-orange tongue extended.
[Top side view of this long orange and white moth. There are black spots in the white sections on its wings. It has black legs with thin white stripes and solid black antennas and eyes. Its yellow-orange tongue is entended and touching the green stalk on which it is vertically perched.]

Underside of the Ornate Bella moth.
[The body is white with black dots in a line down its side. The undersides of the legs are white, but parts of the top of the legs are visible and are black. The undersides of the wings appear to be all orange with black spots.]

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All photos © S. M. Garver