Wings

Let's get thematic today!

Today's theme: Different wing shapes of moths. I know I've posted multifarious moth pictures, but today I want to focus especially on how many amazing wing shapes there are - including the way the moths hold their wings when they are at rest. When I have looked up the differences between butterflies and moths, one of the things I have always read is that butterflies rest with their wings up, and moths rest with their wings flat against their bodies, but there is a kind of middle ground that I have seen both do. Also, I have seen some moths that change their wing position (for reasons unknown to me). There are other differences between moths and butterflies (antennae shape, body shape), but this one in particular seems vague to me.

Let's start with today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

Okay, it's not the most interesting wing shape, but it's green, and that is why it's Backyard Bug of the Day. I have seen butterflies sit with their wings like this, so that is why I don't think wing position is the greatest method for determining if something is a moth or a butterfly. I found this on the front porch last night. It was not the only moth on the front porch last night...

 This one is a bit more unusual. Or maybe unusual is not the right word. Not stereotypical.

I think, though I have not been able to find information about this, that moths arch their bodies like this when they are trying to attract a mate. I know they use pheremones to attract mates, but I suspect this body posture is part of it, too.

 This is what I think is meant by having the wings flat against the body, which is definitely mothy and not a butterfly thing.

 There are some moths that look like people wearing coats with big fur collars.

 These two are the same species, but sitting with different wing postures (they are on the storm door on my porch, hence the weird background.

 They both have the arched body posture.

 2 more wing shapes/postures. The one on the right has the arched body.

 Another arched body.

 I love these - there are several different kinds of these, and are called plume moths. I think they should be called plane moths. I have no idea what those streamers with spikes on them are for. They very often have an arched body, so for these moths I think it might just be a normal body posture. Obviously this one was in the yard today, not on the porch at night. (This will be BBotD some day...)

 Also spotted in the yard today, and only because I saw it fly to this leaf. Otherwise I never would have seen it.

 There are other moth wing shapes, but those are the ones I was able to get last night (one very cool one in particular I saw on the porch last night, but it didn't want its picture taken. Also, scroll back to the middle of May to see the post with the luna moth. Awesome wings on that one!)

While we are on the subject of lepidoptera, you will be happy to hear that the caterpillar (I really need to give it a name, because it's a pain to keep typing 'the caterpillar') ate almost half a leaf today!

Mind you, I did not see it do this. I am assuming it was The Caterpillar. But every time I saw it, it was still lying in the hammock.

Backyard Bud of the Day

I think this is St. Johnswort, but I have never been sure about that.

Remember the really fuzzy tree hoppers the other day? No, not those fuzzy tree hoppers, the other ones, with the curled spikes?

I found two of these together on a branch. I am not sure if these are the same kind, in a different stage, or a different kind altogether. The woolly stuff is a secretion of something, but I don't know what.

I have no idea why, but this wasp was attracted to a dead flower:

Here's a gratuitous bunny picture:

And I have another non-spider for you for Arachnid Appreciation, but it's still pretty high on the creep factor:
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 Here's a fun way to check how arachnophobic you are. Get a macro lens. Focus on an arachnid head on, and try to keep adjusting your focus as the arachnid walks toward the lens...
I finally figured out what the bump is on all these daddy longlegs/harvestmen's heads (not that they technically have heads). Those are their eyes. I feel so stupid for not knowing that. It became obvious with this one, and I did a bit of reading, and yep, those are the eyes. I think I though the eyes were somewhere else, and not so protrusive. One way these differ from spiders - they have only one pair of eyes, and spiders have either three or four, depending on the species. (They also lack venom and don't produce silk). They do have chelicerae, though, which gives them the look of having venomous fangs, so... still a little creepy.

And now, having seen that last picture - sweet dreams!