It's wingspan is over 6 inches !

I thought it had just hatched out, and wanted to keep it so Tim and the girls could see it when they come this weekend. I put it in a fish bowl and brought it indoors. I put some leaves in with it to make it more comfortable. After awhile I discovered it was laying eggs on the leaves ! I still planned on keeping it indoors, but Nolon noticed it was trying to get out of the bowl, so I took it out and put it and it's leaves on top of a spreading juniper where it would be safe from the cats. Later on, just before dark, I went out to check on it. It had crawled up on to a branch of my orchid cactus, that is setting on the stump by the juniper. It was laying more eggs on the cactus! :

It's upper wing is rather blurry because it was fluttering it as it layed the eggs.

I love it ! Such a blessing !

It seems unusual to me that there are silk moths in your area.

Thanks for sharing...great photos!

:-)
pm2

Kathy, that's interesting, as the eggs must have lots of predators. Marian, will you try to "save" and observe the process? Those eggs are pretty large in themselves!

We once hatched a huge catepillar in a picnic basket (think about the old wicker baskets with the two lids, but mine was a playskool plastic style) - we found him (lime green and about 4" long and very thick) and put him in the basket where he quickly spun his coccoon, so that we couldn't opened the hinged lids. When he emerged he must've been able to open the basket and flew away without my ever knowing what he looked like.

There must be a lesson about letting nature "be" in there somewhere :)

Saucy

Saucy, I love the Lunas. I have pics I have taken of them too...well I thought I did, but there are none in my PT Butterfly and Moth album. :-(

Pm2, I took lots more pics of it. It was too intent on the preparation of laying it's eggs to be afraid of me.I clipped off the dead 'stick' that it was on and dropped it into the fish bowl. It made no effort to escape. When I dumped it out onto the juniper it still did not try to escape from me.

It is also called a Robin Moth.

Michelle, I love your thread and your DGD's fascination with all things on your farm.

Saucy, that's too bad that you were not able to get to see the emerging moth. It could have been a Cecropia, their caterpillars are lime green and huge.

I haven't seen any caterpillars yet this year. I didn't think they came around until it warmed up. We are still in the 60s during the day and low 50s at night.

That is another cool photo of the second moth. I took some photos last summer of moths out at night. I hope I see more this year.

Thanks for shairng yours!
:-)

Both of these moths were in broad daylight.

Other moths that I enjoy are the Hummingbird clearwing moths and Bumblebee hawk moths. I have aready seen one of the latter this spring. They ARE daytime moths.

I was so inspired by your moth that I went looking for my old talk and found a little fact sheet I passed out to the audience called "Obscure, but Interesting Facts About Butterflies". Hope you don't mind me sharing, but I thought you might find some of them interesting:

1) Butterflies are one of the few cold blooded animals that migrate.
2) Butterflies have most of their tast organs on the front feet and need only to step in a sweet solution to taste it.
3) Butterflies navigate (in part) by reading the earth's magnetic field.
4) Caterpillars of the Lobster Moth look like bird dung.
5) Monarch butterflies feed on the leaves of milkweed (Asclepias), a poisonous plant, to which they are immune, but which makes the butterflies poisonous to birds, who have learned to leave Monarchs alone.
6) A male butterfly can home in on the scent of a female that is miles away.
7) The male butterfly of the Danaidae family travels from flower to flower picking up the scent of each flower it visits until he has the particular perfume that attracts his female partner.
8) Butterflies often give off an aroma (though I've never got close enough to smell it...LOL...but I'm told it is true). Anyway, butterflies often give off an aroma to attract a mate and can smell like roses, sweetbriar, heliotrope and other flowers. :-)

Hope I didn't bore you! :-)

BTW, that Imperial is *beautiful* too! I have never seen a luna moth in person, but *really*...*really*...*really* want to! :-) My mom said she use to see them all the time in Tennessee, but I was never lucky enough to see any when I was there visiting.

I'm a hummingbird moth lover too PM & Marian. They are the sweetest, busiest little things and seem to love my Monarda.

Anyway, thanks for sharing Marian...I really enjoyed your post.

Ei

Ei, I will do a search on the Polyphemus moth. Yes, the Cecropia adult has no mouth parts. At least we don't have to worry about being bit by one! LOL. But they sure do have clingy feet!
No, I wasn't bored with your "facts". They are interesting. I am familiar with most of them, but not the last one. I have never been able to smell one either. :-)

Our company is still in their beds. I will soon have to cook breakfast for them all.