I Love Bugs

I do, I love them. Well most of them anyway. I must admit that mosquito's and flies gross me out to no end, and having a spider ON me kinda freaks me out in a hair raising kind of way. But other then that I am totally in.

So in the interest of further education and spreading the love, here is a post about some pretty bugs. The One-Eyed Sphinx and the Colombia Silkmoth. Both of them are common to this region of the world and quite interesting to look at.

Here is the One Eyed Sphinx, or the Smerinthus cerisyi:
He is about 1.5 inches long and has a wing span of about 2-3 inches. The interesting thing about him is that he blends perfectly to a tree and that if you you don't stop and observe, you will totally miss his beautiful under wings, because at rest they are usually folded under his over wings( those are probably not the scientific names for these but I'm sure you understand what I mean).

And here is The Colombia Silkmoth, or the Hyalophora columbia:

This is a big guy, his body is as large as my index finger in diameter, about 1.5 inches long and his wing span is about 5 inches. His body is fury with cream and brown stripes.

Moths are allot less skittish then butterflies, if you hold your finger in front of them they will often climb on board and let you take a good look at them. You can do them a favor and release them on to a tree trunk or a shaded wall as they usually prefer not to be in the direct sun light and seem to be a little dumbstruck when they are, landing somewhere they could get "squashed". Just don't touch their wings, they are fragile.

If you would like to know a bit more about moths, and see some absolutely beautiful photographs ( some moths are even more colorful then butterflies) i have posted a few links on the side bar in the Take a Look section for your enjoyment.

Have a great fathers day!
Danielle