In Brazil a Beautiful Moth Becomes a House Visitor - Observation of the Week, 11/24/21

Our Observation of the Week is this stunning moth, likely in the genus Ernassa, seen in Brazil by @aninhafonte!

A visual artist, photographer and teacher who’s finishing a master’s degree program at a Federal University in Visual Art Education, Ana Carolina da Fonte tells me that has been in love with nature for most of her life. Growing up near the Atlantic Forest Reserve “[I] used to collect dead insects I found interesting,” she says, “mostly beetles, moths and butterflies. Back then there were no cell phones or digital cameras, [so] nowadays I am happy to register them with my phone or camera, but I still collect some here and there!”

That includes the remarkable moth you see photographed above, which actually appeared in her house at night, attracted by lights. 

My daughter loves moths, but she's also scared of them. This one happened to be inside her bedroom. Of course, I couldn't send it back to the forest before registering a few photos. It is beautiful, but I must say it's way more [beautiful] in person! The flash faded its colors a little and didn't do justice in the reds in its fuzzy body.

A member of Tribe Arctiini (commonly known as Tiger Moths), members of the genus Ernassa are found in neotropical regions of South America but I couldn’t find much other information about them. If you know anything, please add it as a comment! Many adult tiger moths are visually striking and they can be found almost anywhere around the globe. 

“I was happy when I found out about iNaturalist, because now I get to share all my findings with the world,” says Ana (above).

I also love learning about the new creatures I find and posting photos of them in the platform. Not only that, but I also check what other people have been posting near me, curious to what I might be finding next. Using iNaturalist changed the way I interact with nature, since it made me a little more obsessed in registering everything I see, because now I get to share with others and that makes it way much more fun!

- You can take a look at Ana’s Instagram feed here!

- National Moth Week has some helpful tips for finding moths!

Posted on November 24, 2021 11:59 PM by tiwane