Raspberry Pyrausta
Pyrausta signatalis
August 11, 2010
This Pyralidae was in my front yard this morning. They're tiny little things, but good examples of the rewards at having a closer look at our more diminutive, and overlooked, lepidoptera.
The Pyraustinae, the subfamily this moth belongs to, are often brightly colored. I looked into the name and found this in Wikipedia:
"Pyrausta (also called pyrallis, pyragones) is a mythological insect-sized dragon from Cyprus. It resembles a four-legged insect with filmy wings and a dragon's head. It lived in the fire like a salamander and died if it went away from the fire."
