Monday, August 15, 2011

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.
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

28 comments:

  1. I'm feeling some serious moth envy right now!

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  2. Hi Laura...I am not fond of spiders...but I am fasinated by the webs they make...well I take that back ..that is if I don't walk face into one :ooooooooo]
    You have some great Moth pic's ...I love those that blend into the tree bark ..good for you seeing them. : }
    I like your mushroom at the begining ..shaped like a heart!!

    Raining here today 70f...I hate it when I can't go out and play!! ; }}

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  3. loved all these! you get some great moths there! the last quote was really lovely... :)

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  4. Loved your batik moth especially. Thanks for your photos.
    Lorna Cahall
    http://lornacahall.blogspot.com

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  5. great spider and moth pics ......x

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  6. great photos! Cindy has moth envy, I have camera envy. Thanks again for posting these wonderful photos.

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  7. Love the moth and moon pictures! Just me and my thing with spiders, I could not look at them too closely. hahaha

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  8. Oh such great pictures, and the heart shaped mushroom too cute! I thought of you today when I watered a flower bed this morning...I had to grab my camera (hope it came out) and took a picture of a very cool I believe baby butterfly...is that possible? It was small and appeared like a butterfly...but you always have such awesome bugs I thought I had to try and capture it, what ever it was! If it came out I'll post it!

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  9. Gorgeous, gorgeous post--all of it, the photos, the quotes.
    Thanks for sharing-we turned cloudy every evening starting on Thursday so no good view of the full moon.
    :(

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  10. Love it!!!!!!!! Thank You!!

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  11. Nice captures. I don't know how you spotted the Tulip Tree Moth. He blends right in. For that matter, good job spotting the spider's hiding spot as well.

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  12. wonderful moons and moths - that one on your car window is stunning! ... and the giant silk moth - gorgeous!
    You make me so envious , with your beautiful, beautiful pictures...

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  13. how wonderful to know that we were both playing with the same full moon, it's a small world after all... my photos will be up on Friday for skywatch, but they might not be what you'd expect

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  14. These are awesome pics! The moon, the moths, but especially the spiders!

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  15. Wow, you find the most amazing, weird and wonderful creatures!
    Always love your moon shots too.

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  16. Your posts are brilliant, Laura. Always so informative, entertaining, unique and never without a sprinkling of fairy dust to add that special magic that is your signature.

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  17. That is one sneaky spider on the wind chime string! You have a good eye for even spotting him!!

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  18. Oh, Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon'. I used to love that sone.
    Mary

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  19. I made it thought all YOUR spider pix and was doing OK until I got to that Wolf fella! Damn! He's scary!! Remember that song: "I don't like spiders & snakes"? Think of me when you hear it!...:)JP

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  20. hey, just wanted to say thanks to everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment! when you do that...i know you were here...and i appreciate that! :) this morning, before dawn, the moon was still SO bright out, i thought i left the back porch light on!!
    anyway, got a lot of catching up to do...with blog reading! this weekend...we're heading over to jacksonville...i have a Reiki 2 course & we decided to make a weekend of it! our anniversary, and BOTH our Bdays...all within the 16th to the 21st!
    happy weekend! :)

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  21. Fascinating moths and spiders..loved all the shots!

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  22. What a neat collection of moths, the spiders are cool too. You are seeing some great bugs. I have a friend that would really be envious of all your bugs and moths. Great photos and I lov ethe moon shot.

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  23. Couple of good quotes there and I like the moths more than the spiders! Thanks for all your comments on my blog.

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  24. I love the pattern of that month on your car. So many neat photos!

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  25. u seriously rock!!! i really die to c all such stuffs in person but lol here apart from house spiders and mosquitoes nothing is found...oh yeah sometimes cockroaches...:D:D...hey do u hv pics of snakes...i love snakes

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  26. Hi,
    Thanks for the beautiful glowing moon. I'd like to leave one of my poems from my book The Field. It's about the dark side of the moon...

    Love-gift
    It is dangerous to love the moon,
    that blue, cold shimmer between
    your beating heart and endless sleep.
    Remember, the souls of the dead go riding
    across her pulsating sea on
    phosphorescent dolphins.
    They enter the gates and go
    beyond mind, beyond story, beyond
    the farthest stars.
    One sleepless night, I wandered out and saw,
    fleeing between the silver junipers,
    a blue hare chased by a cougar.
    Shadows less substantial than dreams are
    a love-gift of the moonlight.
    Be careful not to love the moon.

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  27. thanks everyone for your sharing of the spiders, moths and moon....
    and a special thanks to Lorna Cahill for your wonderfully mysterious moon poem!! :)

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  28. Wonderful shots of moths & spiders - amazing what's out there to see when one really LOOKS! It is so evident that you DO really look, as evidenced by your finding that spider "hiding" on the wind chime string. LOVE it!

    My favorite moth was the one on your car, truly unique markings - but then, each & every one is unique, isn't it?

    The lovely moon poem was just icing on the cake for me today. Thanks Lorna!

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!