We didn’t even represent all the families in our region. This is not a complete guide, by any means. Many of the larval stages of these moths are just as beautiful as the adult stages, some are even superior. Plant their larval food plants and appreciate rather than loath the caterpillars that come up in the landscape.īe sure and research the caterpillars of these beautiful insects. Stay away from the kids of insect controls that kill indiscriminately like bug zappers. In general, if you want to support moth species, abstain from using pesticides. We of course care about all the moths-the diversity of this group of insects is great, and many, many species are still unidentified. Likewise, the green geometrids or Emeralds (Geometrinae), underwing moths of the genus Catocala , and the Forester Moths (Agaristinae) contain a number of very colorful species. While many of the most spectacular moths are the large and colorful silkmoths (Saturniidae) and hawkmoths (Sphingidae), the smaller tiger moths (Arctiidae) are also impressive as a group. Some moths, like the white-lined sphinxmoth (Hyles lineata) are nectar-feeding as adults and are important pollinators while other species, like silkmoths (Saturniidae) don’t feed as adults at all. It makes sense that they don’t kill their host plants, since they depend on them to further their species. Often, the herbivory causes new, fresh growth on plants. Most moths don’t kill their larval food plants, particularly those that feed on perennial plants. The tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) eat our tomato plants, and the squash vine borer (Melittia cucurbitae) make our squashes melt down and die.

During the summer the sophora moths (Uresiphita reversalis) feed on the young foliage of Mountain Laurels (Dermatophyllum spp, formally known as Sophora).

Some are bothersome to gardeners and landscapers.

Rosy maple moth cocoon for sale