Spanish moon moth, Graellsia isabellae (Graëlls, 1849). D. Descouens CC BY-SA 3.0
Join entomologists from Virginia Tech and celebrate National Moth Week! Come out to the campus of VPI and discover insect biodiversity and nighttime nature. We’ll be across the street from Price Hall, near Duck Pond at 8:30PM this Thursday, July 24. We’ll have a mercury-vapor lamp, black light and insect nets.
This year’s NMW is celebrating the silk moth, insect family Saturniidae. Pictured above is a member of this family from Spain. It’s a close relative to our Luna Moth (Actias luna) here in the U.S. Saturniid moths are fascinating insects with a super sense of smell. They can detect just a few molecules of a chemical or pheromone with their frilly, plumose antennae! (Pictured above is a male, here’s a female.)
