moon, moths & spiders...

i

  

Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness.

 ~Allen Ginsberg 

 ((if i had a music widget on here...there might be some 

'dark side of the moon/pink floyd' playing...or maybe something a little more

subtle & mysterious,  like 'midnight by golana'.))

  oOo

i always have so many pictures...it's hard to decide which ones to post.

this time...the moon helped me to make the decision.

moths and spiders!

one night last week, 

this BIG beautiful moth was hanging on the porch...for hours.

 

Polyphemus moth (giant silk moth)

  that was  the second  Polyphemus i've seen, 

although i see their cocoons on the ground all the time...

having fallen out of the oak trees.

 

OH, i found another pretty cool BUG site...with good pic's.

North American Insects & Spiders

when ever i see a crawling/flying/slithering/slinking critter...

if i'm not sure what it is...i search...

trying to ID it, but as you know, it's not always  easy to be SURE...

because even with pictures...each one is a little different.

so, please...if anyone reading this, is ever certain as to the identification

of ANYthing you see here...please let the rest of us know! :)

 

an Orb Weaver.

...still trying to get better at these night shots...

Tulip Tree moth  (?)

 

another moth on front porch...

these next few photos...are of a spider. the first night i saw it,

i thought it was a shedding...but it was gone in the morning.

ok, so another bug ate it...but then it was back that next night...

just kind of hanging there...suspended...

 

look closer (enlarge)...is that his MOUTH open??

i'm pretty sure he's a Long Jawed Orb Weaver/Tetragnathid.

they don't weave big elaborate webs. they just kind of hang out

and wait for something to dine on.

during the day...like all nocturnal orb weavers...

they find a good hiding place. well...his hiding place was not THAT good...

he had aligned himself along the string of a small wind chime! 

 see him? 

 

 pretty cool...huh?

he must've gotten sick and tired of my picture taking...because the next day

he found a new hiding place. a better hiding place. i couldn't find him.

 

male Tussock moth

 

 another Orb Weaver. 

this one doesn't seem to have the markings on its back

like the first one up there. does that mean it's young? male or female?

look at the web!! 

to watch them spin their webs is amazing!

they go round and round...in circles...F A S T !

 

kind of sad...they put so much effort into their webs...

and look what can happen in one night! 

looks like he has some late night snack stashed off to the side there.

here's an awesome moth!  on my car.

 

like cracked glass...

...and another moth of unknown species...

(shawn of Stokes Animal  Library thinks this one might be a

Barberry Geometer Moth. thanks shawn!)

 

this next one...i had no idea WHAT it was...

it was just LUCK that i spotted a picture of it while looking through

online moth pictures!

 Meal Moth/Pyralis Farinalis

not the best picture for sure. this weird little guy can be seen during the day. 

ok...one more little spider and that's it! 

the perfect spider for a FULL MOON!

 

 a Wolf spider.

oOo

i

  

No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, 

even bored solitude in the wilderness, 

finding himself depending solely on himself 

and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.  

~Jack Kerouac

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

stay cool. 

laura