It was a little bit scary around here last week. Linda came back into the house and informed me there was something worth checking out on the porch. To her credit, she is usually dead on when it comes to knowing what types of things intrigue me enough to go and take a gander. This was no exception. Before you jump to any conclusions, Linda is not out there really looking for fodder for my blog. The truth is she is out there keeping an eagle eye out for anything that might be slithering around. It is a relief when she comes back in and calmly tells me to go check out something, otherwise all hell breaks loose and off I go to get the hoe. Otherwise it’s a quick trip to the kitchen to get the macro mounted camera to capture the moment. This was one of those times. Turns out a Leopard had made its way to our humble dwelling. This was not just any old leopard, this was a GIANT leopard.
Okay, so it wasn’t one of the cats… otherwise that might have been the end of this blog unless I was able to make it back to the AR in time. Nope, this was actually the Giant Leopard Moth and to the best of my recollection the first time I’ve ever witnessed one around here. When it comes to moths, these have to rank right up there with the coolest. As you can tell, they are predominantly snow white with the traditional leopard print dominating their markings. What turned out to be difficult to capture was the brilliant blue detail in the legs and along their undersides. After taking a number of pictures from its resting spot under our porch, I decided to delicately try to relocate it for some better angles. I usually hate to mess with insects out of fear of injuring them and I know that even small contact with their delicate wings can lead to loss of flight causing an imminent demise. In this case I spent 15 minutes slowly bringing a piece of mulch in contact with the legs and worked the stick into place whenever it shifted its legs. Slowly it made its way onto the stick and I lifted it out to a resting place on top of the stoop. To the moth’s credit it was pretty docile and really didn’t mind all the hoopla with the camera. It basically just sat there and twiddled the antennas (is that the right plural?.. might be antennae). In the new position, I could capture the top markings much better.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of our visitor
