I've learned a lot about bugs, insects, spiders, and other arthropods over the last four years, but the more I learn, the more I realize I know next to nothing about any of those things. Yes, at this point I probably know more than the average person who is not an entomologist, but the average person who is not an entomologist probably really does know nothing. Like that not all insects are bugs. A lot of what I have learned has come from just observing the insects themselves, although I don't always know what their behaviors mean, and can only speculate. Much of what I have learned has come from reading, either in insect field guides or on the internet, though I never believe the stuff on the internet 100%. It is always taken with a grain of salt. Some things, though, I have tried to learn, and looked them up in many places, and still end up confused, either because I read conflicting information, or because I see insects behaving in ways that don't match up with what I read.
Take this moth:
Very early on in my bug watching days, and maybe even before I got into insect macrophotography, I started trying to find out the difference between moths and butterflies. They are both Lepidoptera, and the vast majority of Lepidoptera are moths. So what is the difference between them? Well, moths have thicker bodies. They also have feathery antennae, whereas butterflies have antennae like we all drew on pictures of bugs as kids, kind of a wand with a ball on the end. And another thing that is supposed to differentiate them is the way they hold their wings when they are at rest. See the insect in this picture? That is how butterflies hold their wings. Moths are supposed to hold them down along their bodies. So you see my problem. I have read these same differences from multiples sources. So why is this moth holding its wings like this? Is this not a real, legitimate difference between moths and butterflies? Is this moth a freak? Is this just something moths do on occasion? This definitely has moth antenna (not that you can see them well in this picture). I think it is the same species as the 5 or 6 other moths that were on the porch tonight, all of whom held their wings in the way moths are supposed to, like this:
What is the answer? I have no idea. I am sure the moth knows what it's doing.
These two moths are all I've got for you today; it rained all day, so I couldn't do a bug walk, and had to rely on the porch light to see any bugs at all (5 or 6 of these moths and 1 gnat).
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