A free field guide to Borneo's moths — 39 species so far, from the giant Staudinger's Atlas Moth to the day-flying Tropical Swallowtail Moth, each with photographs and identification notes. This list is a work in progress: Borneo is thought to hold several thousand moth species, so this covers a first, growable batch rather than a complete checklist. Nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for.
What this list covers
Moths (order Lepidoptera, minus the butterflies covered separately) are one of the most species-rich insect groups in Borneo's rainforest, spanning everything from wood-boring carpenter moths and giant silkmoths to tiny, intricately marked geometers. This guide covers a first batch of 39 species with a confirmed, properly licensed photograph — several other candidate species are still awaiting one and will be added as photos become available.
A handful of entries here are identified only to genus rather than full species — Bornean moths in groups like Ambulyx, Acosmeryx, Thalassodes and Tanaorhinus are notoriously difficult to separate without close examination, and several were only photographed well enough to confirm the genus.
Where to find them
Moths are almost entirely a night find — the standard method is a white sheet lit from behind with a mercury-vapour or UV light, set up at the forest edge after dark, which draws in a far wider range of species than torchlight alone. Danum Valley, Deramakot and the Kinabatangan river lodges in Sabah regularly run light-trap sessions for guests. A few species on this list, like the Tropical Swallowtail Moth, turn up readily at ordinary porch lights even outside forest.
All 39 species
Each card has two colour-coded toggles:
turns lime green — adds it to your trip planner
turns blue — marks it as seen in my sightings
