Now, I am wondering --- how is this good
camo for this moth? It looks like a piece of high energy Easter candy! I found it inside my house hanging out by a window, a wee bit haggard by the paranoid look on it's face...
I can't help but love and be excited about it's bright strange pink and yellow coloring! It's a very tiny moth, even though it has the features of larger moths (like the
lunar moth) such as a bulky fuzzy body and wide feather shaped
antennae.
Anyone want to venture out and find what kind of moth this is (if ya get it I will blow you
cyber kisses!)---- but even cooler what kind of caterpillar did it come from !?! I would love to know what colors it's c
aterpillar is!
bubbly XOxoxo
Now, I am wondering --- how is this good camo for this moth? It looks like a piece of high energy Easter candy! I found it inside my house hanging out by a window, a wee bit haggard by the paranoid look on it's face...
I can't help but love and be excited about it's bright strange pink and yellow coloring! It's a very tiny moth, even though it has the features of larger moths (like the lunar moth) such as a bulky fuzzy body and wide feather shaped antennae.
bubbly XOxoxo
Dryocampa rubicunda.
ReplyDeleteNow blow me. (Too crude even for me but it was the only move available after the opening you left.)
Oops, about the caterpillar...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/greenmapleworm/photo1.htm
Gratu -
ReplyDeleteNo blow till that link ain't broken.
HOw cool you found the moth! Here is a long silly link to images of it:::::
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Dryocampa+rubicunda&rlz=1R2SNNT_enUS384&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=Ol8nTPXCC5vqnQexnKW9Bg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CDQQsAQwBA
Here is the WIki info on it::::
"""""The rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda ) is a North American moth in the Saturniidae family. Males have a wingspan of 32–44 mm; females of 40–50 mm. They have reddish-to-pink legs and antennae, yellow bodies and hindwings, and pink forewings with a triangular yellow band across the middle. Males have bushier antennae than females. As the name implies, rosy maple moths mainly feed on Maples, particularly Red Maple, Silver Maple, and Sugar Maple. Sometimes these moths become pests on maple trees.
Life cycle
Females lay pale yellow eggs in clusters of 20-30 on the undersides of maple leaves. After about two weeks, small gregarious caterpillars hatch. They will remain gregarious through the third instar, but the final two are solitary. The mature larvae are light green with black lateral lines, red heads, and two filaments behind the head, and reach lengths of about 55 mm. When they are ready, they climb to the bottom of the host tree and pupate in shallow underground chambers. The pupae are very dark, elongated, and have small spines. The pupa ends in a small forked point. When the imago (adult) ecloses, it has small wings which it has to pump full of fluid in order for them to expand and allow for flight. Adult moths are generally nocturnal; they preferentially fly throughout the first third of the night (Fullard & Napoleone 2001). The females emit pheromones at night and attract males, which have bushier antennae in order to smell the females' scent. """"
I have alot of types of maple trees in the forest around my house, particularly the silver maple! WHich I hope means I will see a few more of these, looks as though the one i found was a male! He's pretty in pink!
xoxo
Amazing moth!!!
ReplyDeletethat is incredibly beautiful!
ReplyDeleteANonymous & Liberty!
ReplyDeleteI know!!! SO cool, and unusual.
I saw a pic on the Daily Squee today, second pic down on: http://dailysquee.com/ and wondered what it was. Googled it, found your blog. The pic had no attribution and I'm wondering if it was yours as it looks so much like your other pics, with the moth on your hand. It's amazing! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-
ReplyDeleteCool picture on Squee, but it's not mine! Some exact moth though :)))) Glad you found my pics of it too!
My son just brought one into the house to show me, cupping it in his hands ever so gently. When he opened his delicate hold on this little critter, it flitted off and gracefully landed on the wall. While searching for my camera phone, it dove into the light pocket at the base of the sconce, entrapping itself. Rushing to cut the electric, I almost thought that it had flown off somewhere else. I turned on my flashlight, and could see little puffs of dust coming up from the light socket area. Carefully standing on the stool, I tried to gently remove it with a little paperclip. She climbed right on...and disappeared. Although I feel terrible that it is probably stuck in the house somewhere (obviously not a great habitat for it), I feel happy inside knowing that there is such beauty in the world. My son said it reminded him of a strawberry banana smoothie. He is right...it does. Apparently, they love maple trees, especially the red ones. Hopefully someday you will be privileged to have one grace your life with its presence! Thanks for the blog post...nice article!
ReplyDelete