Moth Portrait

Watercolor and colored pencil

Produced as part of a commission illustrating the differences between types of insect heads.

Of the nearly a million known insect species in the world, roughly 160,000 of them are moths. Moths and butterflies comprise the Lepidoptera order of organisms. Both groups have scale-covered wings and can coil their feeding tube, or proboscis.  Unlike butterflies, moths’ antennae are feathery rather than club-like and they are often nocturnal, creating striking profiles on moonlit nights.

For more information about moths, visit the Smithsonian >>