If Cinderella were a moth, what species would she be? Maybe this tiny, shimmering one. When we spotted this visitor during National Moth Week on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in our pollinator garden, we asked our Bohart Museum of Entomology associates for identification.
Picture this: A Polyphemus silk moth, Antheraea polyphemus, flutters into the Davis backyard of Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas on April 12, 2021 and visits his blacklighting set-up.
They say good news comes in threes. Sometimes it comes in fives! Congrats to the five UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty members for their outstanding academic achievements.
It's National Moth Week, which, according to the officials, is a time to celebrate "the beauty, life cycle and habitats of moths." So "moth-ers" of all ages and abilities "are encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths in their backyards, parks and neighborhoods.