This lovely baby was hanging out on the brick wall at church last night. Everyone stopped and ooohed and ahhhed over it.
Any ideas on the name and what the host plant is? I'd love to see this more often!
Surprise Guest
You've got a Luna Moth...probably one of the most beautiful of insects. The adults have no functional mouth parts...they do not feed. They breed and die after a few days. So, they are rarely seen.
Host plants are Sweet Gum, Hickory, Birch, Pecan and several other nut and deciduous trees.
So beautiful and so sad. Thank you for the information.
Wonderful photo!!! Melody covered all the answers :o)
Thanks for sharing ~ Cat
Thank you Cat! Here's a second pic maybe a little clearer, but I don't think there's any difference though. It was still there after church.
oh big Congrats MySharona. I know how it exciting it is to find a beautiful moth
That IS sad, I didn't know that Melody!!! I'm still looking for my first luna moth down here in SC, we used to see them now and then in CT when I was a kid, probably because we had a lot of hickory trees. I was so disappointed last month when the people who own the golf course (where we live) cut down a beautiful big sweetgum tree near one of the tees because the golfers complained about the gumballs on the ground. I had just found out that it was a host to the luna moth. I know there are more around the neighborhood though, and pecan trees as well, so I still hope to see a luna moth.
Thea, darn those golfers. LOL. Beautiful, beautiful moth. And I had no idea about their sad story either. That is really heartbreaking as it would be great to have a million of these around.
Leslie
You said it Leslie, they are SO beautiful, can you imagine a whole flock of them flying by? I've been going outside at dusk to see if I can spot any clinging to the brick sides of our house but no luck yet :(
They eat so much as caterpillars that they don't need to eat as moths- just focus on reproducing for the rest of your life. HMMM- eat like a pig the first half of your life and be irresistable the second half. That's not so bad.
Maggie
Margaran - LOL!! That's another point of view. I love it!
heeheehee! I feel better now!
Good one. I feel better too. Does not sound so bad when put that way.
Leslie
Glad to be of service! MySharona- hope you can come to the roundup 9/15. You're not far and you can finally get a cutting of Heliotrope.
Maggie