The Moths of Southeastern Arizona

Area of coverage is the counties of Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, Graham, and Pinal. Map and Details of mountain ranges in covered region.

A typical night at Pena Blanca, Santa Cruz County Arizona (18 July 2000). Photo by Howard Byrne.

Related webpages

1. Mountain Ranges, habitats and classic locations of SE Arizona
   Check out what the various habitats around Southern Arizona look like. Birders, campers, and hikers are even welcome to veiw this site!
2. Moths by Families
   Use this to jump directly to the full species list
3. Common Caterpillars of SE Arizona
   A few of the most common caterpillars found in Urban setting are here.
4. The Most Spectacular Moths of SE Arizona
   If you are not a hard-core moth person, but simply trying to ID that odd moth seen around your house, look here first.
5. Moth Collecting and Curation Techniques
   1. Shoestring-Budget mercury vapor collecting lamp construction (from Joel Szymczyk, Las Cruces NM)
   2. BioQuip's new self-supporting collecting sheet
   3. Rapid drying of spread material
   4. Notes on Mercury Vapor Settups for Moth Collecting
6. Other Companion websites:
   1. Butterflies of SE Arizona
   2. Sphingidae and Saturniidae of Sonora, Mexico
   3. Butterflies of Northern Mexico and Sonora

This is very much a work in progress!! Please note that there is a great deal of variation in both the picture and specimen quality [currently poor photos are denoted by *, and poor specimens by (*s)]. Poor figures will be upgraded once the basic species list is loaded, while upgrading poor specimens will take much longer. We will, of course, be happy to display any of your slides of adults/ larvae here (with full credit, of course).

• Completeness of coverage: Coverage is fairly complete for certain families (Sphingidae, Saturniidae, Lasiocampidae, Arctiidae, and Sesiidae), while for others (notably Noctuidae and Geometridae) the coverage is likely very incomplete, and many of the illustrated species in these groups may be misidentified.

• Sources: Identified specimens from the University of Arizona insect collection is the initial base, with subsequent information from material at the Smithsonian and from other collections/collectors. Where appropriate, species collected from SE Arizona figured in the appropriate volumes of the Moths of American North of Mexico are also included. Species number from Hodges (et al.) 1983 Checklist of the Lepidoptera of American North of Mexico are also given for most families, as [ MONA xxxx ]. (MONA for Moths Of North America)

• Totals to date (as of 6 December 2002):
  1. 21 Families
  2. 1906 listed species
  3. 1184 (62 percent) of these are figured. For macros, 1440 species listed, 1100 figured (76 percent)

• Comments, corrections and additions are MOST welcome, at jbwalsh@u.arizona.edu.

• I'm trying to get a sense of who is using this page and how they found it. Drop me a note if you wish : jbwalsh@u.arizona.edu.

Please note that the figures are somewhat large, around 70 - 120 K each, so slow-line downloads beware!

Compiled by Bruce Walsh, Department of Ecology and Evolution Biology and the Center for Insect Science of the University of Arizona. [ Walsh home page ].

Much thanks to

• Ray Nagle (University of Arizona) for sharing his detailed knowledge of SE Arizona moths.
• Karl Olson (University of Arizona Insect Collection) for much of the material
• Michael Singer (UA-CIS) for help with the Arctiidae and excellent slides of many larvae.
• David Faulkner (San Diego Natural History Museum) for additional material.
• Tom Eichlin (Senior Insect Biosystematist, California Dept. of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento) for a complete reworking of the Sesiidae.
• John Brown (Dept. of Entomology,Smithsonian Institution ) for help and access to the research collection.
• Don Lafontaine (Research Scientist, Lepidoptera Unit, Canadian National Collection) for help on the Noctuidae.
• Tony "mothman" Thomas (Fredericton, NB, Canada) for excellent larval slides.
• Chris Conlan (conlan@adnc.com) for excellent larval shots of Sphingidae and Saturniidae.
• Marc Epstein (Dept. of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution) for a help on the Limacodidae.
• Jim Tuttle (Tuscon, Arizona) for help (esp. foodplant records) on the Sphingidae and Saturniidae
• James Adams (Dalton State College, Dalton, GA ) for several records and a list of many typos!
• David Wagner (University of Connecticut ) for many outstanding larval photos.
• Jim Mason (Great Plains Nature Center) for several larval photos.
• Paul Opler (Colorado State University) for additional records and much help on the Notodontidae.
• Julian P. Donahue (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) for his comments on the Cossidae.
• Cliff Ferris (University of Wyoming) for many, many useful records, corrections, and imagines.

1. Sphingidae (Hawkmoths)
   • 49 Species listed, all figured
   • Page last updated: 8 September 2010
2. Saturniidae (Silkmoths)
   • 27 Species listed, 26 figured
   • Page last updated: 20 March 2006
3. Mimallonidae, Apatelodidae, Lasiocampidae
   1. Mimallonidae (Sack-bearer moths)
      1 Species listed, figured
   2. Apatelodidae (Apatelodid Moths)
      2 Species listed, both figured
   3. Lasiocampidae (Tent Caterpillars)
      16 Species listed, 13 figured
   • Page last updated: 12 Feb. 2008
4. Doidae
   • 2 Species listed, both figured
   • Page last updated: 24 August 2011
5. Notodontidae (Prominents)
   • 50 Species listed, 44 figured
   • Page last updated: 29 January 2008
6. Erebidae
   1. Subfamily Lymantriinae (Tussock Moths)
      • 4 Species listed, 3 figured
      • Page last updated: 26 August 2011
   2. Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger moths)
      • 104 Species listed, 95 figured
      • Page last updated: 24 August 2011
   3. Old Noctuid Subfamilies: Herminiinae through Catocalinae
      Page last updated: 25 August 2011
7. Eutellidae
   • 5 Species listed, 4 figured
   • Page last updated: 12 September 2011
8. Nolidae
   • 10 Species listed, all figured
   • Page last updated: 24 August 2011
9. Noctuidae (Cutworms)
   • 792 Species listed, 694 figured. (List based on old classification of the Noctuidae, construction in progress to move species around).
   • Page last updated: 21 August 2008
10. Geometridae (Inch-worms and Loopers)
    • 429 Species listed, 365 figured
    • Page last updated: 26 February 2008
11. Sesiidae (Clear-wing moths)
    • 47 Species listed, 12 figured
    • Page last updated: 8 April 2007
12. Zygaenidae, Megalopygidae, Limacodidae, Epipyropidae, Dalceridae
    1. Zygaenidae (Smoky Moths and Burnets)
       12 Species listed, all figured
    2. Megalopygidae (Flannel Moths)
       6 Species listed, all figured
    3. Limacodidae (Slug-caterpillars)
       9 Species listed, all figured
    4. Epipyropidae
       1 Species listed, figured
    5. Dalceridae
       1 Species listed, figured
    • Page last updated: 12 Feb 2007
13. Hepialidae, Psychidae, Cossidae
    1. Hepialidae (Ghostmoths)
       1Species listed, figured
    2. Psychidae (Bagworm moths)
       7 Species listed, 2 figured
    3. Cossidae (Carpenter- and Leopard-moths)
       20 Species listed, 197 figured
    • Page last updated: 5 December 2005
14. Hybaeidae, Thyrididae, Thyatiridae, Sematuridae
    1. Hybaeidae (Teak Moths)
       1 Species listed, figured
    2. Thyrididae (Thyridid Moths)
       2 Species listed, both figured
    3. Thyatiridae (Thyatirid Moths)
       3 Species listed, all figured
    4. Sematuridae
       One Species listed, figured
    • Page last updated: 30 September 2009
15. Tineidae, Acrolophidae
    1. Tineidae (Clothes moths and their relatives)
       8 Species listed, 1 figured
    2. Acrolophidae
       31 Species listed, 7 figured
    • Page last updated: 26 September 2002
16. Oecophoridae (Codling Moths)
    • 44 Species listed, none (so far) figured
    Page last updated: 26 September 2002
17. Cosmopterigidae
    • 47 Species listed, none (so far) figured
    • Page last updated: 4 February 2001
18. Gelechiidae
    • 49 Species listed, none (so far) figured
    • Page last updated: 6 February 2001 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
19. Glyphipterigidae (Sedge Moths)
    • 6 species listed, none (presently) figured]
    • Page last updated: 1 February 2001
20. Alucitidae, Pterophoridae (Many-Plumed and Plume-moths)
    1. Alucitidae (Many-plumed moths)
       1 Species listed, figured
    2. Pterophoridae (Plume-moths)
       35 Species listed, 4 figured
    • Page last updated: 23 May 2005
21. Prodoxinae (Yucca moths)
    • 9 Species listed, all figured
    • Page last updated: 26 September 2002
22. Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
    • 229 Species listed, 59 (so far) figured (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
    • Page last updated: 20 November 2006