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Moths of Borneo

Lepidoptera

Caterpillar records with a date and a place, and moths photographed in Sabah.

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About moths

Moths and butterflies together make up the order Lepidoptera, the insects whose wings are covered in tiny scales. Most of the order are moths. On this site moths are filed under two pairs of wings, and each record has its own page, filed by family (and subfamily or genus when known). So far the records are all caterpillars; the adult moths are in the photographs further down.

Field records

8 caterpillar records, newest first. More caterpillars, butterflies included, are on the Caterpillars page.

A reddish-brown caterpillar folded like a dead leaf on a twig

29 July 2017

The dead leaf that was holding on

Bukit Gemok Recreational Forest Park. About 40 mm, disguised as a dead leaf with both ends lifted clear of the twig.

Notodontidae (lobster moths)
A knobbly cream-and-brown looper caterpillar arched high on the edge of a green leaf

7 December 2012

The looper that would not keep still NEW

Eda Sawmill log yard, Tanah Merah Mangrove Coast. Prolegs only at the rear, so it walks in loops. Named on iNaturalist as the Asian cross-lined wave moth.

Geometridae: Sterrhinae · Traminda aventiaria
The dew-covered front end of a large pale caterpillar on a painted concrete post

8 March 2012

The caterpillar that came to the gate post

Ikutmaju Sawmill, Tanah Merah Mangrove Coast. About 60 mm, motionless on a concrete gate post with dew still on its head.

Lasiocampidae (lappet moths), probably
A tussock moth caterpillar with four yellow brushes on its back, on a palm leaflet

23 December 2011

Four brushes and three pencils

Tawau River Triangle, Tawau. Four yellow brushes on the back and three black pencils, feeding on a palm leaflet.

Erebidae: Lymantriinae (tussock moths)
A small tussock moth caterpillar with a bright yellow tussock, on a grass blade

22 February 2009

Yellow tussock in a silk tent

Ikutmaju Sawmill, Tanah Merah Mangrove Coast. About 10 mm, in a silk retreat on a grass blade.

Erebidae: Lymantriinae (tussock moths)
A purplish-brown caterpillar with bunches of bristles on warts

1 October 2008

Bristles in bunches

papaya garden beside the Tawau River Triangle. Bristles in bunches on warts, but no tussocks; the name stops at the order.

Lepidoptera, family not determined
A dense mass of large hairy caterpillars packed side by side on the bark of a fallen log

29 May 2008

A hundred on a log

Bako National Park, Sarawak. About 100 mm each, more than a hundred of them resting together on a fallen log.

Lasiocampidae (lappet moths)

Moths photographed on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, December 2009

38 moths photographed between 11 and 15 December 2009. The date and place are stamped on each photograph: ROSE is Rose Cabin, KNP is Kinabalu Park, and BCCM and Spring are places on the same trip. None has been identified yet.

A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified A moth photographed in December 2009 on the Kundasang and Ranau trip, not identified

Other moths, 2006–2010

Dates from the camera; the place was not recorded with the photograph. Click a picture for the full-size photograph.

A moth photographed on 1 October 2006, not identified
1 October 2006
A moth photographed on 25 October 2006, not identified
25 October 2006
A moth photographed on 18 January 2007, not identified
18 January 2007
A moth photographed on 22 February 2009, not identified
22 February 2009
A moth photographed on 20 May 2009, not identified
20 May 2009
A moth photographed on 24 June 2009, not identified
24 June 2009
A moth photographed on 5 July 2009, not identified
5 July 2009
A moth photographed on 14 December 2009, not identified
14 December 2009
A moth photographed on 15 December 2009, not identified
15 December 2009
A moth photographed on 15 January 2010, not identified
15 January 2010

Can you name one?

None of these moths has a name yet. If you can identify one, the best place to say so is on iNaturalist, where Wong Fook Yee posts his records.

More insects

Caterpillars · Butterflies of Borneo · Two pairs of wings · Insects of Borneo

Earlier versions of this page also carried family notes and photographs from another naturalist’s website, Chin’s Nature Corner. They were never ours, so they have been taken off. Everything on this page is now Wong Fook Yee’s own work.