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Project Noah Nature School
Beebea guglielmi Schaus (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Pyraustinae)
Moth on the screen of my room. Wingspan approx. 1.5 inches = 38.1 mm. Irregular black spots with slightly iridescent wings.
The caterpillar of this moth feeds on dead giant cacti.
See Bernard's notes below for more details!
I know what you mean - I'm a herper at heart and a few years ago I would have scoffed at a moth! :)
I just noticed that I didn't phrase that right. It should have read: "most people would dismiss this as a silly little moth..." I'm with you in that everything is worth looking at. In fact, I know I miss stuff sometimes because I spend too much time with certain subjects. :-)
Thanks Aaron. Now that I've been on PN for a while, almost no living thing is silly. Before PN, I was only interested in reptiles and amphibians, now it is every living thing!
You never know what kind of animal will be among the most special finds on a trip like this. Most people would dismiss a silly little moth, but you snapped a photo and got to be part of something really cool. Great find, Neil!
Thanks for identifying this moth, Bernard! - NeilDazet: you will not get a better ID than this; Bernard is THE specialist on Galapagos moths! Note that this moth does not (yet) have a common name - Join us on facebook.com/darwinfoundation for further info on our work.
The caterpillar of this moth feeds on dead giant cacti. I have seen only one in 8 months in the field in the Galapagos between 1989 and 2005. So it's not common!
Spotted on Oct 22, 2013
Submitted on Nov 4, 2013
