Pachylia darceta, Rio Ñambi, Colombia

This one ends the series. A series of neotropical moths photographed across 3 locations in south Colombia, spanning five different sessions in 2018:

• Moths of Colombia - 2018

Some stats: 391 photos. Considering a few dozen duplicates, I estimate about 300 unique species photographed. This has led to 140(!) species intros. The vast majority of photos not identified to species level are identified to the family or genus level.

As thrilled as I am with these stats, numbers are one thing. What about the mesmerizing diversity in shape, color, size and patterns?

And now we come to the most important part of these closing words: credits.

First and foremost, without Lisa Kimmerling and Christine Young launching the idea of "Moth week" here at JD in the summer of 2018, this set would not exist. We've traveled to tropical nations for 12 years, and never did we pay any attention to moths specifically. The idea to try mothing in the jungle with a light trap is a direct result of Moth week.

And what an idea it is. It costs nothing, is extremely productive, and tons of fun. For all these years, all this stunning diversity in the tropics had been hiding in plain sight. My eyes are open now.

There's more. Several people have helped to identify our moths, the vast majority again by Lisa and Christine. Christine deserves a special mention for her heroic effort and excitement. Sharing a set this large may be a good 200 hours of work. Christine has probably matched or exceeded that in time regarding identifications. That's an incredible amount of volunteer work just to help somebody, and I don't feel worthy of it. Besides ID help, Lisa and Christine has made the sharing of this set something exciting and fun, instead of a dreadful task.

Therefore I consider this OUR set, not my set. It wouldn't have existed without them. It has been our collective effort to admire and describe moths in Colombia. The JungleDragon way, where we don't compete but collaborate based on a shared love for wildlife.

Thank you, dear Lisa and Christine!

As for this set ending, to me it is a beginning. I do not live in a good place for structural mothing, but surely I will make every effort in our remote travel to try again.

Some final housekeeping:
- This does not end the Colombia 2018 coverage, still two more days to go :)
- I still have a plan to create a giant plate out of this set
- I've created a new list that keeps track of the moths not yet identified, should we ever come across matches:

• Moths of Colombia - 2018 [unidentified]