Not a new one, but I spotted my favorite moth again for the first time this year! This one's a female rosy maple moth, as evidenced by its thin antennae and exposed pheromone gland (seen in the first pic). Males have bushier, feathery antennae for detecting these pheromones.
Moth trivia: Both moths and butterflies are lepidopterans, but you can distinguish them from one another by looking at their antennae. If there's a knob/club or hook at the tip, it's a butterfly! If the antennae are feathery (combed) or come to a point, it's a moth! The difference has nothing to do with size, coloring, mouth parts, or sleep schedule (though it's true that
most moths are nocturnal and
most butterflies are diurnal).
Speaking of rosy maple moths, I decided to change the Shiny palette of my rosy maple moth Fakemon, Aromoth. Some individuals have a more purplish coloring and some, unofficially called "light forms," are practically white, so I tried to reflect these in the new version. I'm not sure if I prefer it aesthetically over the former, but it makes more sense scientifically.
EDIT: Changed Piwirm's Shiny as well (based on young green-striped mapleworms, when they're still a pale yellow-green and have black faces).
Gee, I just thought that moths were these small hairy brown things.
But these...are beautiful.
You have given me the second view of the beautiful things moths are, and eased by moth fear.
Moths are such misunderstood animals. Spread the moth love!
