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

By

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.