Reddish Egret
I’m so fortunate that I get to see these beautiful egrets every year. There are two color morphs of this species, the most common dark morph, and the less common white morph. The white morph could be mistaken for a Great or Snowy Egret if you don’t look closely at the pink and black bill.
#ReddishEgret #galvestonbirding #birding
Woolly Plantain (Plantago patagonica)
Plantains are criminally underrated native plants. They are mostly small in stature and don’t have showy, colorful flowers, but they are uber cute and their flowers are really beautiful when you look closely.
#nativeplants #oknativeplants #plantnative #plantago
Drasteria ingeniculata
This is my second recent post of a graphic moth (Tribe Melipotini). They generally have dark, distinctly marked forewings with some color on the hindwings. This is one of my favorites.
#MothsOfOklahoma #TeamMoth #DrasteriaIngeniculata #GraphicMoths
Moth Face Friday!
This is the Ironweed Root Moth, a rather large species for the subfamily Spilomelinae.
#IronweedRootMoth #MothFaceFriday #MothFace #MothsOfOklahoma
Deduced Graphic (Bulia deducta)
Currently it is quite chilly and windy outside. However, just a few days ago it was a typical warm May evening and I had several Deduced Graphic moths at my sheets. This is a striking moth with nice flowing patterns on the forewings and some orange on the hindwings.
#MothInHand #MothsOfOklahoma #TeamMoth #BuliaDeducta
Moth Face Friday!
This stunning female Io Moth (Automeris io) was the highlight for all who attended the last local moth night. This species exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the female sporting beautiful brown forewings and the male sporting yellow forewings. The hindwings are basically the same on both male and female with those striking eye spots.
#MothFaceFriday #MothFace #IoMoth #AutomerisIo #MothsOfOklahoma
This planet is a marvel! I am constantly amazed by the abundance and diversity of life I find when I spend time outdoors. That being said, I am also very well aware of the threats to this beautiful diversity. We need to do everything in our power to protect healthy ecosystems and push back against the many powerful efforts to replace beauty with chemicals and concrete.
Pictured is a lovely Bristly Cutworm Moth (Lacinipolia renigera) sporting earth tones of brown and green.
#earthday #earthday2026 #MothsMatter #TeamMoth #MothsOfOklahoma
Phyllira Tiger Moth (Apantesis phyllira)
This beautiful tiger moth appeared on my front porch this week. I had to nudge him several times before he would open his wings to reveal the colorful hindwings.
This is one of about a dozen species of Apantesis found in Oklahoma.
#PhylliraTigerMoth #Apantesis #MothsOfOklahoma #TeamMoth #MothsMatter
I created a poster of “100 Common Moths of Oklahoma” which is now available for FREE from the Oklahoma Biological Survey! Thus was a really fun project and I’m hoping these posters help spread the message about this interesting and diverse group of insects that live in our state.
#MothsOfOklahoma
Forage Looper (Caenurgina erechtea)
I took both of these photos near my porch light on the same night. The first is a male Forage Looper and the second is a female. This species displays some sexual dimorphism with the males having more gray and higher contrasting wings, while the females are more brown and less contrasting.
#ForageLooper #Caernurgina #MothsOfOklahoma #TeamMoth #sexualdimorphism
Double-toothed Prominent (Nerice dentata)
I love the pattern of this moth but this is my first time to take a photo of the face. It has disproportionately large eyes, don’t you think?
#MothFaceFriday #MothFace #MothsOfOklahoma
Weekend in western Kansas
A couple weeks ago I ventured up to northwestern Kansas with a few friends to see a prairie chicken lek. There’s not a LOT to see in western Kansas, but we found a couple of cool sights. The first two photos are from Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park and the third is from Monument Rocks.
#LittleJerusalemBadlands #MonumentRocks
