Moths hold the spotlight in first comprehensive guide to Northwest species

Butterflies are easy to love, but their night-flying cousins have always been a little harder to cozy up to. A group of Northwest biologists hopes to change that with the first comprehensive guide to the region's moths.

Far from being a bunch of drab stepsisters, the lesser-known branch of the lepidopteran family includes hundreds of flamboyant varieties and exhibits a degree of diversity that puts butterflies to shame, said Merrill Peterson, the Western Washington University biologist who conceived of the online guide. For every butterfly species in the Pacific Northwest, there are at least six types of moths.