Interpretive help?

[bill and Dale]

Maria,
          I too love the Eight-spotted Forester, my favorite day-flying moth.
At some point (in some species) the distinction between moth and butterfly
seems to blur. The Forester seems to be a case in point. I get them often in my
yard in Guilford because I have lots of Virginia creeper and wild grapevines,
their foodplant. I'm sure there are technical reasons why they're considered
moths but in my simple mind they are "special butterflies."  Besides the
look-alikes that JH mentioned in his post I get Anania funebris glomeralis (no
common name) which is a weak flying, smaller look-alike with slightly different
spot patterns.
                                                    Bill Yule

MariaAA at aol.com wrote:

> Today in my parents' backyard in Wilbraham, MA I saw the most exquisite
> diurnal, butterfly-mimicking moth--an Eight-Spotted Forester (Alypia
> octomaculata), according to my Peterson's.  It was nectaring, I believe, on
> some white-flowered ornamental, with wings up (like a butterfly), and had
> these crazy bright-red tufts on the fore and middle legs.  Its flight
> reminded me of tropical heliconia-type butterflies.  Does anyone have any
> other info on this creature's seemingling interesting morphological,
> behavioral and ecological adaptations?
>
> Thanks,
> Maria Aliberti