For Now I’m Calling It The “Scorpion Moth”

Either that or the Moth That Can Touch Its Tail To Its Head:

moth(yeah, you’ll wanna click for the bigger picture)

Looking at it from inside the kitchen this afternoon, at first glance I thought it was some shmutz on the window screen (for scale reference it takes about 18 of those screen squares to make an inch). But upon going outside and inspecting the shmutz more closely I saw indeed it was neither flotsam nor jetsam but instead some sort of winged thing demonstrating a unique ability to bet its own butt all up in its business.

I’ve already sent an ID request off to the Butterflies and Moths of North America website, but who knows how long an answer might take — if one comes at all. So in the meantime if anyone is cozy with any entomologists, feel free to point them to this picture.

UPDATE (08.10): I got a quick reply from the contact at the above-mentioned website, who thought it might be, Platyptilia carduidactylus, a member of the plume moth group. Bugguide.net then came in with Lineodes integra, commonly called the eggplant leafroller (also the nightshade leftier). From the looks of some of the other pix on the following page, Bugguide nailed it:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/36773

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Will

Will Campbell arrived in town via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in OneNineSixFour and has never stopped calling Los Angeles home. Presently he lives in Silver Lake with his wife Susan, their cat Rocky, dogs Terra and Hazel, and a red-eared slider turtle named Mater. Blogging since 2001, Will's web endeavors extend back to 1995 with laonstage.com, a comprehensive theater site that was well received but ever-short on capital (or a business model). The pinnacle of his online success (which speaks volumes) arrived in 1997, when much to his surprise, a hobby site he'd built called VisuaL.A. was named "best website" in Los Angeles magazine's annual "Best of L.A." issue. He enjoys experiencing (and writing about) pretty much anything creative, explorational and/or adventurous, loves his ebike, is a better tennis player than he is horr golfer, and a lover of all creatures great and small -- emphasis on "all."