The first:
The second:
Want a little context?
If you didn't recognize the awesome insect discovery in the first picture, it's an Actias luna, more commonly known as a Luna moth. When Pudge went out to the little slide he had set up below a tree he wanted to climb, he was surprised by this little guy on the side. From my vast experience as an amateur entomologist, I interpreted his folded wings and smallish size as an indication that he was a newly hatched adult literally hanging out to dry. If things are the same between moths and butterflies, then I believe the drippy stuff you see on one side of the wings is actually meconium- extra fluid that gives the butterfly/moth wings color. Also, from a little WikiAnswers research, I'm fairly certain this is a male Luna moth, from the size of its antenna.
Yes, it was quite thrilling. Apparently, the Luna moth is actually quite common in the eastern U.S., though this is only the second one that I've seen in my life. Also, I read that in the South (which technically we are, if you call it on the Mason/Dixon Line; also, it's hotter than hell here in the summer, so that does it for me) the Luna moth can have several generations born throughout the summer, and early August can be time for the third or fourth of the year!
But, the highs are often followed by the lows, as it was for Pudge only moments after first seeing the moth. Mark the calendar, because yesterday brought his first official run-in with another kind of insect. Of the stinging variety. Hence the face in picture number two. That's actually several minutes after we broke out the baking soda, bandaged him up and had a wee snuggle for comfort. (Even dedicated bloggers do sometimes put the camera down. Though if I had gotten it out during the high drama, it would have been better to take video. The audio would have gone like this: "Ouchie! Ouchie! Oh, it hurts so much! OUCHIE! I don't like that!") For the next hour or so, Pudge was quite offended that an insect would do such an awful thing to him, and Red, in her best five year old know-it-all voice declared, "Well, Mama, I guess you were wrong. They WILL bother you even if you're not bothering them." Thanks for that, darling.
It appears that there may be some yellowjackets nesting in the dirt under the tree where they like to play. We saw two flying around when we went back over to check out the moth, but thankfully there were no additional stinging incidents. We went back outside about an hour later to discover the moth had pumped his wings much bigger and was fully stretched out. (This would be the perfect place for a follow-up photo... had I taken one. I was too caught up in saying goodbye to our friends who were over that I completely blanked.) As soon as Pudge got up from nap a couple hours later, we went out once more only to discover... an empty slide. No Luna Moth. "Well, that is a MY-STERRR-Y," as Pudge had to say.
I'm pretty sure his wings dried and hardened all the way and he went off to live his wild and crazy ONE WEEK LONG life. Yup, that's the adult life span, can you believe it? He's gotta go get busy making the next generation of Luna Moth babies, for there's still a lot of summer left, as far as I can tell.
**UPDATED, 8/4/11, in the PM: How could I have forgotten to mention that about a week ago, Pudge found the coolest, fatest caterpillar on the sidewalk going toward the parking lot in our townhouse court? After looking at it for a while and then putting on the trunk of a nearby tree (where I assumed it had fallen from), we consulted our favorite insect field guide and determined that it was definitely some type of big moth caterpillar- to me it looked a little like the Polyphemus moth or the Luna moth caterpillar. After yesterday's Luna moth sighting, Red is totally convinced that it was, in fact, a Luna moth caterpillar and that it turned into the very moth that we delighted in observing. Fun times.
Bugging out,
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