After a long day searching for butterflies, Linda, our guide says, “I am putting up a white sheet and leaving a UV light on all night to see what moths we draw to the light.” Later that night we go out to check and there is a weird collection of shapes on the sheet. They don’t even look like moths … rather they look like creatures on a Star Wars planet. Trying to photograph them, we discover we need one person to hold a flashlight while someone else points the camera at them. Here are a few moths … not content we all vow to get up early, early (5 am) and troop out to see what else flew in. So Many! So Varied! Linda takes photo after photo and we never see two of any moth … each new one stranger than the last. An unexpected bonus on this butterfly trip.
A 3 inch moth flew in and hung from a post. He looked like a dead leaf.
This moth has a secret
Then he fluttered to the ground and opened his wings to scare us … two large “eyes” stared at us …
Surprise! Did I scare you?
if we were an ordinary predator maybe we would reconsider taking a bite of something which might have a large face behind those eyes. Maybe? Another question to think about …
Mary P Williams 