Field Guide

Butterflies and Moths

Showing 1 - 10 of 130 results
Media
image of an Ailanthus Webworm Moth on a flower
Species Types
Scientific Name
Atteva aurea
Description
Ailanthus webworm moths visit flowers in the daytime but also come to lights at night. Larvae live communally in silken webs in tree-of-heaven, an invasive tree from Asia.
Media
image of an Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth
Species Types
Scientific Name
Malacosoma americana
Description
The silken tents of eastern tent caterpillars are conspicuous each spring in the forks of apple, cherry, and plum trees. The adult moths are brown with two pale stripes on the forewings.
Media
Photo of a monkey slug caterpillar on an oak leaf
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 20 species in Missouri
Description
Adult slug caterpillar moths are heavy-bodied and furry. The weird-looking caterpillars have suckers instead of prolegs, so they glide around like slugs. Don’t touch — many have stinging spines or hairs.
Media
Orange-patched smoky moth resting on the edge of a leaf
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 25 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Leaf skeletonizer moths are also called smoky moths because they have translucent smoky-brown, brownish gray, or black wings. Many species also have patches or orange or rusty color. Larvae eat all but the veins of leaves, leaving a skeleton of veins behind.
Media
Adult salt marsh moth resting on a vertical plant stem
Species Types
Scientific Name
Estigmene acrea
Description
The salt marsh moth, a type of tiger moth, is strikingly white with small black spots. Males have yellow-orange hindwings. The caterpillars are fast-moving woolly bears ranging from yellowish to brown to blackish.
Media
Adult fall webworm moth resting on a leaf
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hyphantria cunea
Description
Fall webworm moths may be either completely white or have varying amounts of dark spots. The larvae are hairy caterpillars that live communally in late summer and fall in tentlike webs on the branch tips of trees.
Media
Photo of two bagworm bags on red cedar
Species Types
Scientific Name
Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis
Description
The larvae of bagworm moths live in protective cases they make out of their own silk plus plant materials or other debris. These spindle-shaped cases dangle from the food plants they’re eating.
Media
image of Plume Moth on blade of grass
Species Types
Scientific Name
Nearly 150 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Slim, delicate plume moths are instantly recognizable by their T-shaped silhouette, long legs, and muted shades of tan and brown. It can be hard to separate the various species.
Media
Photo of a Horace's Duskywing
Species Types
Scientific Name
Erynnis horatius
Description
Look for Horace’s duskywing at flowers and mud puddles, in forests, and along roadsides.
Media
Photo of a Northern Cloudywing
Species Types
Scientific Name
Thorybes pylades
Description
A cloudywing is a spread-winged skipper whose ground color, seen from above, is completely dark, and not mottled. The northern cloudywing has a dark face, too.
See Also
Media
image of Caddisfly on leaf
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 1,500 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Adult caddisflies are mothlike. Their larvae are aquatic and build portable, protective cases out of local materials, including grains of sand, bits of leaves and twigs, and other debris.
Media
Photo of eastern dobsonfly
Species Types
Scientific Name
Corydalus cornutus
Description
Adult eastern dobsonflies are huge and mothlike, with large wings and a weak, fluttery flight. The fiercely predaceous aquatic larvae, called hellgrammites, are well-known to anglers, who often use them as bait.

About Butterflies and Moths in Missouri

Butterflies, skippers, and moths belong to an insect order called the Lepidoptera — the "scale-winged" insects. These living jewels have tiny, overlapping scales that cover their wings like shingles. The scales, whether muted or colorful, seem dusty if they rub off on your fingers. Many butterflies and moths are associated with particular types of food plants, which their caterpillars must eat in order to survive.