While admiring Common Milkweed which produces an amazing fragrance across long distances, I discover several unusual looking insects. They look like a capital T or an old-fashioned airplane, with a wingspan of perhaps 5/8 inch. Feathery wings and spiny, delicate looking legs.

These are Plume Moths (Pterophoridae). There are more than 1,000 species of Plume Moths in the world. The latest figures I can find for the number of described species in North America, north of the Mexican border is 166.

Of these 166 species that have been described, it is said that it is quite difficult to tell one species from the other without the aid of a microscope. I’ll skip that and just say these interesting looking moths are Plume Moths. A fun moth to find, with such an out of the ordinary look.