Saturday, June 27, 2015

Eyed Hawk-Moth

As we stepped out our back door last week, we noticed 5 moths hanging on the door and surrounding area.  They held their places the entire day…..without any movement, at all.  According to the internet, they appear to be Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata). 

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In the photo above, you see a hawk-moth and right above it looks to be a very small moth.  I don’t know if the smaller moth is what drew all the other moths around the house, or just what was going on. 
The information on the internet stated that hawk-moths have two sets of wings on each side and when fully opened, you see a pattern that looks like an eye.  Non of the moths had their full extension of wings, but in the next photo, you can see that they do have two sets.

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That evening, after not seeing the moths move all day, we were out sitting around a little fire making s’mores when I looked up and noticed that every single moth was gone.  Hmmmmmm, interesting.

2 comments:

Deb J. in Utah said...

Very interesting creature. I have not seen one of those around here. Probably too hot. Enjoy the week ahead!

LeAnn said...

I found that very fascinating. I had no idea that they don't move for long periods of time. I like the photos. Thanks for the information on this one; I love to learn new things.
Hugs!