Moths of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Additional Species Contributed by Steve Franklin
Sphinxes
Titan Sphinx (Aellopos titan)
Very similar to the Clavipes Sphinx (A. clavipes), this species has a band of black-and-white checkers below the white abdominal band, barely visible in the bug shown.
Owlets
Owl Moth (Thysania zenobia)
This giant moth is unmistakable - the size of a Black Witch, but usually pale with strong lateral black lines. The female lacks the strong apex-to-apex line as shown in the male above, but will still show the black ST line and dark triangles along the costa, along with the overall bark-like pattern.
Noctuids
Disparate Forester (Androloma disparata)
This eye-catching little day-flying moth is virtually identical to the more widespread Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata) except for the lack of any white scaling on the thorax and/or abdomen, which is present on the Eight-spotted! While this photo may be inconclusive, thankfully Peggy Rudman got a dorsal photo of the same bug, and it was definitely a Disparate, which is more likely in the LRGV than Eight-spotted.
Lappet Moths
Blanchard's Tolype (Apotolype blanchardi)
Of the two Apotolype moths that occur in North America (and in the LRGV), Blanchard's is paler and less strongly marked than the Short-crested (A. brevicrista). An LRGV specialty!
