Jer Clarke3d ago
Mark McCaughrean

Have been quiet on the arthropod photography front for a few days, partly due to the intense heat 🥵, but also thanks to a conference at @mpi_astro this week..

But from the Königstuhl today, here's a beautiful butterfly [edit] moth! to keep things going: it's a scarlet tiger (Callimorpha dominula), nicely named Schönbär in German 🙂

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Jun 23 at 10:34amWeb
Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro

It's a spectacular photo—that deep scarlet contrast against the green leaves is stunning, but it's a moth, not a butterfly!

It is incredibly common for people to mistake it for a butterfly because it breaks almost all the "rules" we are taught about moths:

It flies during the day: While most moths are nocturnal, the Scarlet Tiger loves bright sunshine and flits around gardens just like a butterfly.

#moth

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro
2/
It is brilliantly colored: We usually think of moths as drab, brown, or gray, but this one has gorgeous metallic dark greenish-blue forewings with cream/yellow spots and flashing bright scarlet hindwings.

It rests with its wings wide open: Many moths fold their wings flat or tent-like over their backs, but this species frequently basks on leaves with its wings spread out wide.

#moth

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro
3/
The Dead Giveaway

If you look closely at the head in the photo, the truth is in the antennae. Butterflies have "clubbed" antennae (long, thin stalks with a distinct little ball or knob at the very tip). Moths have smooth, feathered, or tapered antennae that end in a point without a club. As you can see here, its antennae are perfectly straight, simple, and pointed.

#moth
#butterflies
#antennae

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro

Japanese names for moths:

Murasaki-shikibu (ムラサキシキブ): Named after the legendary 11th-century female novelist who wrote The Tale of Genji, used for a moth with stunning, aristocratic purple hues.

Ochiba-ga (落ち葉蛾): Meaning "Fallen Leaf Moth," for species that perfectly mimic withered, drifting autumn leaves.

Ginga-ga (銀河蛾): Meaning "Galaxy Moth," because the microscopic silver dots on its wings look like a sprawling night sky.

#Japanese
#moth

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro
2/
The Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha dominula) doesn't have a single, standardized, poetic Japanese common name because it is native to Europe and the Near East rather than Japan. However, in Japanese academic and translation contexts, it is given two very literal, descriptive names depending on how it's translated:

#Japanese
#moth

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro
3/
1. ベニヒトリ (Beni-hitori) / 紅ヒトリIn formal entomological translations, it is most frequently referred to as the ベニヒトリ (Beni-hitori), which translates to "Scarlet Tiger Moth".

Beni (紅): Deep red / crimson / scarlet (referencing its striking bright red hindwings).

Hitori (ヒトリ/灯蛾): The Japanese name for a tiger moth (literally "lamp moth," referencing how they are drawn to flame/light).

#Japanese
#moth

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean @mpi_astro
4/
2. ヒイロトラガ (Hiiro-toraga) / 緋色虎蛾

If translated directly from its English common name ("Scarlet Tiger") it is written online or in database translations as ヒイロトラガ (Hiiro-toraga). Hiiro (緋色): Scarlet / flame-red. Tora-ga (トラガ/虎蛾): Tiger moth.

While it lacks the sheer cozy poetry of the German Schönbär ("Beautiful Bear"), ベニヒトリ (Beni-hitori) rolls off the tongue beautifully and captures that exact same vivid flash of red that makes the moth so famous!

#Japanese

Show threadMark McCaughrean4d ago

@appassionato Sorry, yes, it’s a moth – complete brain freeze, as I was typing while also half listening to the ongoing conference about star & planet formation 😬✌️

I’ll edit the original to reflect that, but thank you for saving my blushes 🫢

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

You should have pointed the JWST at it!

😜

Show threadMark McCaughrean4d ago
@appassionato Ha – to get the full moth into the field of view of JWST’s near-infrared camera, it would have to be around 100 metres away. And would then be very out of focus 🤪
Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

Just feed the moth better!

😜

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

Just beware of moths in telescopes:

Astronomers took a gorgeous image of the spiral galaxy Messier 65 using a 4-meter telescope. However, the raw images had a giant, blurry cosmic blemish on them. When technicians investigated, they discovered that a literal, earthly moth had somehow crawled into the telescope's internal mechanism and died right inside the camera's filter wheel. The image had to be digitally processed to remove the "blotch created by a moth".

#M65
#APOD

Show threadMark McCaughrean4d ago
@appassionato Given that JWST is 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth, this may not be a problem. Unless Godzilla’s famous foe decides to engage in space flight 😬👍
Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

Don't worry, if worse comes to worst, we can just deploy the Jaeger program to protect L2

「最悪の事態になったとしても、L2地点を守るためにイェーガー計画を発動すればいいだけですから、ご安心を。」

Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

Space flight or fight?
And technically, Mothra is Godzilla’s legendary ally, not his foe. But don't worry, the Jaeger team doesn't discriminate when L2 is on the line!

Show threadMark McCaughrean4d ago
@appassionato I worried that I might be walking into a spinning propellor by invoking a key figure of Japanese legend without having the full picture in mind 😬✌️
Show threadearthling4d ago

@markmccaughrean

Haha, fair enough! To be safe, let’s just leave the Kaiju tracking to L2 and stick to terrestrial moths for now. 🦋✌️