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Tiger Moth

   22 Oct 2017

I have just come across this  photo of a tiger moth from among Mauricio’s photos.  At first I thought it was a butterfly and asked Mauricio what type it was.  So he put me straight on the matter.  One of the main differences between them is a butterfly’s antennae are club-shaped with a long shaft and a bulb at the end.  A moth’s antennae are feathery or saw-edged. Butterflies tend to fold their wings vertically up over their backs. Moths tend to hold their wings in a tent-like fashion that hides the abdomen. Butterflies are typically larger and have more colourful patterns on their wings. Moths are typically smaller with drab-coloured wings.  Not the case here, I must say.

Another difference is a more obvious one;  we tend to see butterflies during the day and moths at night, but this isn’t always the case as can be seen in the picture