Composittae, insect mystery

[Billy B. Boothe]

After "zooming in" on the photo, I agree that it is possible that the moth
may be Atteva punctella instead of Utethesia bella.

Billy B. Boothe
NaturalEnquirer at excite.com


On Thu, 10 Dec 1998 19:30:07 -0300, Doug Yanega wrote:

> >I believe that the moth may be a Bella moth aka as the rattlebox moth
> >(Utethesia bella). It is fairly common in the southeastern U.S. Its
larvae
> >feed on Crotolaria species.
>
> While Dan pointed out that there are some Atteva-like moths around, U.
> bella really isn't one of them, nor a candidate for the moths in the
photo
> based on the bright orange markings, rather slender bodies (compared to
> Utetheisa), and  their small size. The image is clear enough to leave A.
> punctella as the best, if not only, candidate. There's even a picture of
it
> in the Peterson's Guide to compare directly.
>
> Peace,
>
> Doug Yanega    Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias
Biologicas,
> Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG
BRAZIL
> phone: 31-499-2579, fax: 31-499-2567  (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
>                   http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
>





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