I wanted to pick up this little twig the other day, but it moved... it
turned out to be a butterfly/moth.

Never seen something like this before, and I'm not sure it's native.
Perhaps it escaped from a house somewhere ?

Nature at it's best eh :-)

(250 Kb download, but worth it I think ! )

http://www.wide-o.net/summerpond2003/critter.jpg

"Theo van Daele" wrote in news:P7bTa.26431$F92.3146
@afrodite.telenet-ops.be:

A quick look at the site below makes me think it might be a Schinia Snowi,
member of the order Noctuidae, but I could well be wrong.

Take a look at
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/d...s/mothsusa.htm
its probably the best place to try and identify you critter.

Good luck
ANO

Thanks ANO !

Your link put me on to another website, I bluntly mailed the owner, and he
came up with the right name straight away, even though he/she is only
specialized into Canadian moths...

http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life...sia/noctuoidea
/notodontidae/phalerinae/phalera/

Phalera bucephala it is...

And yes, that's a member of the Noctuoidea/Notodontidae ! :-)

The internet can sometimes be tiresome, but can also be an incredible
resource !

Theo

PS: thanks Bonnie :-)

"Axolotl" schreef in bericht
30...
"Theo van Daele" wrote in news:P7bTa.26431$F92.3146
@afrodite.telenet-ops.be:

A quick look at the site below makes me think it might be a Schinia Snowi,
member of the order Noctuidae, but I could well be wrong.

Take a look at
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/d...s/mothsusa.htm
its probably the best place to try and identify you critter.

Good luck
ANO

Wow, talk about camouflage!





On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 13:38:55 GMT, "Theo van Daele"
wrote:

I wanted to pick up this little twig the other day, but it moved... it
turned out to be a butterfly/moth.

Never seen something like this before, and I'm not sure it's native.
Perhaps it escaped from a house somewhere ?

Nature at it's best eh :-)

(250 Kb download, but worth it I think ! )

http://www.wide-o.net/summerpond2003/critter.jpg

Thanks Kathy, that's the one indeed.

Here's another picture of the moth at the UK site; the color is a little
closer to your picture.

http://cgi.ukmoths.force9.co.uk/show.php?sid=19940

This is such an amazingly camouflaged insect!! Gotta love the Internet
and all its contributors!

It can indeed be a great resource :-) A friend of mine just mailed me
about the name ...

"Bucephalus was the favourite warhorse of Alexander the Great, the one he
made a senator......"

Now I'm gonna forget about moths as soon as possible, I don't want another
hobby, I really *don't* want another hobby, I really... oh bugger ;-)

Theo