Moth Festival Revisited

The day after I posted "Moth Festival Ends in Tragedy," a couple of late-comers showed up, apparently having emerged from their chrysalises too late. The beautiful leopard moth was one.

Another was a guy I called Red Head, who snuggled up to the sole remaining Brainless.

The next day, not one moth showed up at our front door, and no moths at all have visited since then.

Hey, guys, I was just kidding around about the moth festival ending. I didn't mean to scare you away. Please come back. I miss you.

Moth Festival Ends in Tragedy

The Moth Festival's last day drew numerous new participants.

Among those hanging out at the festival were Fancy Fan,

Pee Wee,

Helmet Head,

Mr. Stripey,

Delta Tawn,

Rocky,

Harelip, who brought his new pal Snowy.

and Brainless who brought his huge clan with him.

Tragedy struck when bandleader Skinny was attacked and killed by an assassin bug.

A pall having been cast on the festivities, most of the participants departed. Only Brainless and his clan remained, not having the good sense to get away.

Festival organizers said that they would tighten security at future events.

Moth Festival, Day Three

First thing every morning after I start the coffee I go outside to see who is attending the moth festival.

The large black and grey moths are always in attendance, but weren't featured in my first moth festival post. It's almost two inches long.

Several new varieties showed up this morning. They weren't wearing name tags so I've given them nicknames. This one is Triangles.

Next, meet Four White Dots, aka Bullethead.

 Here's Grey Fan,

As well as cousin Tan Fan.

Next comes Scallops.

This is Harelip, because the inner tip of one wing is malformed. If you look at the two large dots as eyes, you will understand the name. I would love to see the underwing with its red markings. Harelip is accompanied by an unnamed bug.

Finally comes Zebra. This isn't a very good photo because it was sitting high on the wall. I really needed to stand on a rock or something, but yesterday I fell backward into the chicken yard, hurt my back, and was afraid to risk falling again.

After documenting the moth festival I've spent the day with an occasional ice pack and a darned good book, Anne Patchett's State of Wonder.

Moth Festival

Walking toward our front door this morning I was struck by the large number of moths resting on the stone wall.

Up closer I could see that it was a moth convention, all varieties welcome to attend.

I've long been a butterfly lover, but moths are beginning to edge them out of favor. For one thing, moths hold still for photos, but the main reason I love them is their seemingly endless variety.

I didn't photograph each kind, but here are a few up close...

The fuzzy-headed one...

The apparently headless ones...

The most well-disguised...

The ones that looks like tree bark...

The ferocious one...

The girly one...

And the most spectacular, the male luna...

The male has feathery antennae, while the female's are plain.

That's all for today, folks. Aside from admiring moths, stemming the last of the gooseberries, tending the little chickens and making vegetable lasagna, I'm fervently hoping for rain.

Nature's Art

No human can rival Nature as designer. The variety seems endless. Here are two examples – moths on our screen door this morning. Moths fly mostly at night. During the day they sleep on surfaces that complement their natural camouflage.

This one is pretending to be a dried leaf.

This one is too spectacular in design to hide itself successfully on the screen.

I don't know the names of these moths. I only know that they live their lives as art.