Leaf Blotch Miner Moth

That's very plausible John. My eye is often drawn to small leaves and other debris hanging from spider silk and spinning in the breeze.

Yes Tom. You are, of course, absolutely right. These moths are not related in any way (other than the fact that they are both moths). When it comes to things like this, my naivety and imagination tend to run wild and that usually gets me muddled, but when I try to understand why this kind of moth "dances" when it lands, I always come back to the idea that it might be a way of avoiding predation. Could it be that the moth is trying to mimic a small dead leaf which might get blown around by the breeze when it lands? Leaves in the new world and the old get blown around. So, it might be conceivable that two moths on opposite sides of the planet saw leaves "dancing" and thought "What a great idea !!"

They look similar. And your description of the dancing behavior is exactly like this one. And their larvae feed on the same things. But they don't seem to be related. Marmara is a New World Genera.

Hi Tom, that's an interesting little moth. I'm not familiar with the Genus Marmara, but your notes immediately brought to mind a little moth we have in the Philippines which also puts on a great dancing show. It's called the Twirling Cosmet Moth. https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/16......