Black-dotted Maliattha

Hi Kathleen! There are a few very good guides, but many of them are centered in Northeastern North America. One of these guides, the "Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America," would be very good for familiarizing oneself with the Families, Subfamilies, some Genera, and even some species in North America. However, I don't think it would be the best guide to exhibit many of the species in your area, since it is centered in Northeastern North America, and you're in Northwestern North America. I've provided the Amazon link to this guide below. There is one very high quality book, "Moths of Western North America," although it is quite expensive. According to reviews from acclaimed moth-ers, it is well worth the money. BugGuide has a very awesome silhouette key which can also help one familiarize oneself with the general shapes of moths in certain families. There are always exceptions to the silhouettes, but it is quite reliable! David Wagner's "Caterpillars of Eastern North America" is also a field guide for Eastern North America, but is helpful in showing the characteristics of caterpillars in both families of moths and butterflies, along with thumbnails of pinned moths near the species' description. Unfortunately I could not find many guides for your specific area. W. J. Holland's "The Moth Book" is an interesting resource for moth-ers as well, although many of the scientific names are different from today's scientific names, since the book was written over a century ago. The book is also very scientific, and less of a guide. I am pretty sure you can look at the whole book on Google Books, which I've provided in the links below. It might also be in a nearby library. "Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America:" http://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Field-Northeastern-America-Guides/dp/0547238487/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y "Moths of Western North America:" https://www.google.com/shopping/product/12318772810647467771?q=moths%20of%20western%20north%20america%20books&safe=off&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48572450,d.dmg&biw=1661&bih=827&sa=X&ei=bubNUZPQGLKp4APg-oCgAw&ved=0CFUQ8wIwAg "Moth Silhouette Key:" http://bugguide.net/node/view/21675 "Caterpillars of Eastern North America:" http://www.amazon.com/Caterpillars-Eastern-North-America-Identification/dp/0691121443 "The Moth Book:" http://books.google.com/books?id=WDAJAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=moths+of+north+america&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EujNUfnuCcLD4APZ-4DQDw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=moths%20of%20north%20america&f=false Please let me know if you would like any other recommendations!

Thank you very much Leanne!