You all know that I am no fan of creepy crawly things. Or even bugs that fly. If you are a long time reader you know that if I were to walk through a spider web that there would be no doubt that I would get a full cardio workout because of it. Plain and simple….I don’t do bugs.
That said, it’s hell living in a forest. I have seen enough bugs, crawling and flying, to last a lifetime. In this regard, I am not a happy camper.
Here is a look out our back window.
Trees! Bushes! Vines!
Things that house creepy crawly, flying things! The hair is standing up on the back of neck just thinking about it, just typing these words.
Oh wait, its going to get better! I’ve got pictures! Now I will be honest with you. These pictures were taken from wwaaayyyy far away and cropped to make them just look like I was up close and personal. Yeah, like that would ever happen!
Here’s a few pictures I’ve taken in the just past few days.
This worm like thing helped himself to a drink from a puddle of water left on our deck railing when Bob was refilling our inside water jugs. I can feel everyone of those legs crawling on me right now!
This is some type of moth that was taking a nap on the pole of our light outside. This one didn’t skeeve me out so bad because it was just kinda there.
A white moth this time, again not a big deal but given a choice I would have the legs tucked neatly under the wings like the one above.
I don’t know if this next bug is missing its legs on one side or if they are neatly tucked under but I can assure you either way,,,,I didn’t pull its legs off!
This next one was resting on the windshield of truck that came through our entrance. My co-host, Myra, offered to get a broom and brush it off but the fellow driving assured us he wanted it there because if it didn’t jump off on its own it would soon be bait as he was goin’ fishin’! Ewwwww! (Trust me, this pic was cropped and cropped again to get this close-up view, I was NOT that close to this creepy crawly!)
Now let’s move onto the ones that I’ve found in the office. Actually, there is only one that I been able to get a picture of because I usually yell, “Ewwwww, kill it! to the person standing closest to me.” When I first noticed this, which was the second I walked in, I was alone. Therefore, it got to live until the next human walked through the door. Now I realize that it’s just a cricket, but its in MY SPACE. Had it stayed outside and I saw it from a good distance, hey, it would be alive today, but noooooo, it had to come in and hang out on the window.
Now I’m gonna go all National Geographic on ya.
There was one flying specimen that I was intrigued with. I say flying only because it has wings, but I have never seen one in flight.
Meet……Luna Moth.
Bob noticed it on our sign that hangs from our outdoor light that he made us. Yes, I am this close to this one.
The Luna Moth flies at night, hence, the name. Moon = Luna.
They are found primarily in the eastern United State and Canada.
These moths have four stages of life. Egg, caterpillar, pupa (cocoon) and adult.
In the caterpillar stage they eat the leaves of sycamore, walnut and hickory trees.
In the adult stage its wingspan is typically five inches long and four inches wide.
The female will 400 – 600 eggs, four to six at a time on the underside of leaves. After two weeks the eggs will hatch into lime green caterpillars with small orange spots on the its sides. In six weeks time it will turn into the adult Luna Moth.
When it reaches the adult stage, as pictured above, it will only live for one week. (by NO fault of mine!) The reason? They don’t have mouths and can’t eat. Who woulda thought??? I wonder why God made them this way.
So there you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Luna Moth.
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