The photo on the right shows an Infant Moth. The photo on the left shows the butterfly, Juvenal’s Duskywing.
While butterflies are usually the ones to sport bright colors, this pair show the opposite. A geometer moth, the Infant Moth has bright orange hindwings, while the Duskywing lives up to its name with uniformly dark grey wings. The key difference between these two lies in their antennae. The Duskywing, like most skippers, have antennae that end in hooks, while the Infant Moth has unadorned antennae.
It turns out that the Infant Moths is relatively mysterious with holes in their local natural history information aside from their preferred host plants being in the Birch family. If you’re out and about in early spring, take a close look at any Gray Birch you find to see if you can find this mysterious moth.
Photos by
Infant Moth by Bruce Cook (iNaturalist)
Juvenal’s Duskywing by Wilderbombyx (iNaturalist)
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