I had never seen a moth this large. No, I take that back. When I lived in north Florida, I saw my first big moths. There were two. They were maybe twenty feet up in a tree. They were huge and a beautiful light green. I found out they were Luna moths, and I was witnessing them mating. It was truly a gorgeous site! I left them alone for some hours. When I went back outside, they were still there. Again, I left them alone figuring they would be gone by morning. The next morning, they were still there! Wow! It was that evening that they took off, never to be seen again.
This summer, in early June, my husband called me outside and told me to bring my camera. I got there as soon as I could. There it was on the side of our house. It looked like a shelf fungus attached vertically. It stood out against our white siding. I had two thoughts then. What kind of moth is this and why wasn’t it in a forest for its own protection?
I took a ton of pictures so I could identify it and prayed it would open its wings. But it wouldn’t cooperate when I asked it to do so. (Yes, I talk to bugs. I also talk to trees, plants, birds, squirrels, ect. I believe they understand me. I believe every living being has feelings and intelligence. Eventually, science will prove I’m right.)
Stuck without a show of wings, I proceeded inside to my computer. Google rarely lets me down. There it was a cyclops moth! How perfect! I’m a former Latin teacher and as an artist, my first love and B.A., I had created a fine art photography show on Greek mythology. I was so pleased!
I went back outside to plead again for open wings, but it was gone.
These bugs remind me of one of the weirdest days I had as a volunteer photographer in Myakka State Park …
It was a beautiful day, as I drove into the park. I was asked to go with one of the biologists to get pictures of the eagle nests. I felt honored and under-equipped. My zoom lens could only do so much. I did have a 2x converter, but I still didn’t think that could handle the lens power I would need. Off I went to his location. We talked for a few minutes and suddenly I had caterpillars in my hair, on my arms and climbing up my jeans. I brushed them off and he told me that for some reason all the caterpillars had come out all at the same time. He said if we stood in one place long enough, we would be covered by them.
It was then that I swore to myself never to tell a bug I had to kill to come back as a butterfly. Karma, man, it was karma.
Perhaps I will revisit this practice since so many moths and butterflies are getting closer to becoming endangered. Karma.