Image of Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth

Description:

"Velvet Bean Moth (Anticarsia gemmatalis) 9 October 2015: Walked about at the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (HNWR) in Sherman, Texas, and came upon this Velvet Bean Moth (Anticarsia gemmatalis) perched on some of the low-lying green plants next to a wetlands area and pier. Additional popular names for this moth include Woolly Pyrol Moth, Velvetbean Caterpillar, and in Spanish, Gusano terciopelo de la soya and Isoca de las leguminosas. The Velvet Bean Moth did not fly off when we got close to it as most other butterflies and moths might do and surely it had to have had its reasons why. Instead it allowed us to take some rather excellent digital images of its likeness. We post three of these images here. In addition, we must state that BugGuide has provided us with the IDentity for this moth and for that we thank them especially A. Hendrickson who confirmed the ID made initially by shotguneddie. Thanks. To access the BugGuide IDentification go here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1153918 And to access additional images of this highly variable moth and caterpillar at BugGuide, go here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7413/bgimage Here's the classification for this moth provided at BugGuide, which can be accessed here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7413 Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals) Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) Class Insecta (Insects) Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths) No Taxon (Moths) Superfamily Noctuoidea Family Erebidae Subfamily Eulepidotinae Tribe Panopodini Genus Anticarsia Species gemmatalis (Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth - Hodges#8574) The Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Source: ""Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner),"" Bayer Crop Science, detailed description provided, accessed 10.12.15, http://www.cropscience.bayer.com/Products-and-Innovation/Crop-Compendium/Pests-Diseases-Weeds/Pests/Anticarsia-gemmatalis.aspx"