Meet the Colorful Nocturnal Moths of 'Mariposas Nocturnas' (Photos)

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Bands of green

mariposas nocturnas

(Image credit: Copyright Emmet and Edith Gowin. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York)

This Mosera apollinairei individual was photographed in 2011 in French Guiana. The species was described by the French entomologist Paul Dognin in 1916.

Trichromia onytes

mariposas nocturnas

(Image credit: Copyright Emmet and Edith Gowin. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York)

Gowin photographed this Trichromia onytes moth from the family Erebidae in French Guiana in 2011. The species was described in 1777 by the Dutch entomologist Pieter Cramer.

Myrmecopsis crabronis

mariposas nocturnas

(Image credit: Copyright Emmet and Edith Gowin. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York)

These Myrmecopsis crabronis moths from Panama are two among thousands of moths that Gowin photographed, in a project that unfolded over 15 years. Gowin documented over 1,000 species of moths, some of which have yet to be described.

Mist forest

mariposas nocturnas

(Image credit: Copyright Emmet and Edith Gowin. Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York)

A mist forest near the Continental Divide in Panama's Chiriqui Province, close to the country's western coast.

Mindy Weisberger
Mindy Weisberger
Live Science Contributor

Mindy Weisberger is an editor at Scholastic and a former Live Science channel editor and senior writer. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine.  Her book "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control" will be published in spring 2025 by Johns Hopkins University Press.