Virginia ctenucha

The Virginia ctenucha is a metallic blue green moth with a bright orange head and orange scales along the sides of the collar, plus feathery antennae that are bushier in males. The forewing is dark greyish brown with a metallic blue base, and the hindwing is black with a white fringed edge.

Adults fly by day over damp meadows and fields, visiting goldenrod and other flowers, though they will also come to light after dark. Caterpillars feed on grasses, sedges and irises, and the species has expanded west into the Canadian Rockies over the last several decades.