Thyris maculata – Spotted Thyris

Hodges # 6076

Caterpillar foods: Clematis and Houstonia   (on Bugguide)

These are tiny moths – less than half an inch long.   I think they’re more common than I realize – they’re so small that I don’t see them unless I’m looking closely.

6/26/2006  The first time I saw these moths – they were with large fluttering groups of butterflies, all sucking up the salt and minerals left from evaporating rainwater, dead animals and animal scat.

 

6/26/2006   The Spotted Thyris moths are so small that at first I didn’t realize what they were. They looked like tiny crumpled butterflies. Here they are, puddling on the driveway, with some butterflies and a fly.  They’re a little smaller than the fly.

 

6/26/2006

 

6/25/2011 on bird droppings

 

5/3/2012  on Wild Geranium

 

5/23/2016  on Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus)

Thyris maculata 5-23-16 1

 

5/26/2016

Thyris maculata 5-26-16 1

on Bugguide