Amazon pics part 6

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:31 am

Thought I would show a 3 pic series of a plump moth. This guy was about 3 cm in length.

Ken Nelson
Canon 30D
Sigma 150MM

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:23 am

Great images there Ken but that last one is right on, excellent

Carl_Constantine · Post by **Carl_Constantine** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:38 pm

Well now, that is one interesting critter. Great pictures there Ken.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:45 pm

Very strange looking from the front

Should be easy to identify from your pictures if we had a Amazon moth key.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:06 pm

Ken,

I have to ask a silly question: are you sure this is the same moth? Pics #2 and #3 look like they go together, but I just can't match up important details between pic #1 and the other two. The wings look to be the wrong shape -- pics #2 and 3 show the back wings extending sideways beyond the front wings, but no sign of that in pic #1 and the wing shape doesn't seem to allow shifting the wings to allow it. What I think I can see of the antennae in pic #1 are threadlike and appear to be inserted in front of the eyes, not feathery and inserted above them like in the other two pics. If this is all the same critter, it's apparently a master of disguise as well as interesting in its own right.

--Rik

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:06 pm

Well, can't imagine there could be more than a couple dozen moth species in the Amazon, right?....

Have a couple pics I will post later of very large moths..8-10 inch wingspread I would guess.

K

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:37 pm

Wow!

It looks a bit like Automeris moth. I think first one is a female.

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:59 am

Rik,

I will go through the pics and reassess the situation to see if they are the same. I do believe they were concurrent pics, but will ensure.

K

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:42 am

Thanks, Ken. If they are the same, I'd be interested to see a maximum-detail crop of the head from pic #1.

--Rik

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:09 pm

I wonder if those are his front legs in picture three that are the dark color, you can see them sticking out in picture two also

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:18 pm

or it could belong to this family of moths.. http://bugguide.net/node/view/9720

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:55 am

Rik,

I believe you are right. I have another pic that I will post (forgot to upload it last night), that shows this moth at a 3/4 angle. The two pictures of the moths are not the same critter.

Will post it soon.

Ken

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:09 pm

This view verifies that the first pic was not the same one

K

Moebius · Post by **Moebius** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:19 am

hmm, the more I stare at this last pic and the first, can't decide for sure if they are the same or not. I do see components that are the same, and some that are different. I don't see the whitish areas on the first moth, but that could be due to the angle/lighting.

What do you think?

Ken

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:19 am

This last image looks pretty much as a second one. First one still looks different for me. On the first one is female and on the others male, I'm guessing.