Even though it has a wingspan approaching 4 inches and I knew it was there on the pecan trunk, I couldn't see it in the viewfinder. Then I thought it was gone. Then I looked at the picture and found it again. It appears to be the Sad Underwing, Catacola maestosa. Some pretty good camouflage - I never really appreciated it until I tried to get the picture.
While I was trying to get photos of the moth on the trunk, another flew up and got caught in the greenhouse door. Camo wasn't helping here.
When I let it out, if flew to the pecan tree and landed, but was sideways - again the camouflage didn't help much. It was better than being on white plastic though.
Just after I took the previous picture, the moth suddenly twisted and lined up with the grain of the pecan bark. The bark was not vertical either since the branch was at a 40 degree angle or so. The moth still knew which way to align. I'm going to have to ponder that for a while. It is some really interesting behavior.
FM
Pretty cool, I know what you mean about difficulty finding the moth in the view finder. I spotted a dragon fly in a bush last weekend and ran to get my camera. Good grief I had to take the shots I took inside to look at on the computer cause I could not tell if I got it or not. My dragon fly was much more visible than your moth. Think my eyes are going bad. Really, if your moth blended anymore in that first picture he would be invisible! Nice pictures. Here's my picture.
wow what great shots Hill
