Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Moth to be!





I couldn't resist this one. I came across him today while pruning one of my river birch. This is a Cercropia Moth caterpillar. When he turns into a moth, he'll have a wingspan of roughly 6 inches, sometimes more. My hand in the one picture is about a quarter inch from him. He's a big boy! This is just very exciting for me.


I found a cocoon a couple months ago that had fallen into the mulch, so I tied it back onto a lilac bush. I can only surmise that it did in fact, turn into a moth or why would I have more now? This is just...I'm thrilled. And yes, I'll be keeping an eye on him! :)


This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly"--Richard Bach

Do you have a favorite saying?
Do tell!

19 comments:

french sojourn said...


For me, it's the scientific definition of Karma.

Newton's Third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Be nice out there Reiders!

Unknown said...

"Time flies like an arrow;
Fruit flies like a banana."
--Groucho Marx

Sharyn Ekbergh said...

Did you know that worms are of both sexes and that any worm can love any other worm?

Theresa said...

I'm going to be laughing about that Groucho Marx saying all day!

Matt Adams said...

Comparison is the death of joy. -- Mark Twain

Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours. -- Richard Bach

Keep your eye on the ball. Even when you can't see the ball. -- Tom Robbins

nightsmusic said...

"It is what it is," and "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." Odd pairing, I suppose, but they've both been pretty much my life.

Isn't that a cute caterpillar? Looks like a cartoon character! I haven't seen him in several days so I'm guessing he's moved up the tree and has chrysalized. I'm waiting for my last monarch to eclose, probably tomorrow judging by the color of the chrysalis, and then I can bring in a few more cats. I've released four monarchs this week so far. :)

Terri Lynn Coop said...

What an adorable chonky boi.

On the other end of the spectrum, back in Kansas, when I'd mow the lawn, there would be clouds of teeny pale blue butterflies rising out of the grass, no more than a half-inch wingspan. I think they were actually fairies.

Mallory Love said...

“Normal is an illusion. What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” - Charles Addam (??)
Seems fitting for today and probably tomorrow too. : -)

Fearless Reider said...

I was going to steal the quote a dear friend has had in the signature line of her emails for decades:

"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind." ― Henri-Frédéric Amiel

But Mallory Love's Charles Addams quote put me in mind of Morticia, so I'm going to have to go with:

“And our credo: Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc. 'We gladly feast on those who would subdue us.' Not just pretty words.”

Morticia's a much better fit for my current mood.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

Gorgeous caterpillar.

The saying I appreciate right now attributed to either the Zapatistas or to a Greek poet: They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds.

LynnRodz said...

I have so many favorite quotes, way too numerous to put here without being sent to Carkoon. (Where is Carkoon, anyway? Is it hot there at the moment? Then, no thanks. If it's cold, I may consider going...)


Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.
Albert Einstein


It's human to make mistakes and some of us are more human than others.
Ashleigh E. Brilliant


Living on Earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the Sun.
Anon


I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
Woody Allen

Craig F said...

I am not going to foist myself off as a wise man, especially not one with one quote to guide me.

Mine changes about as much as I change my underwear. because sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes the bug.

Today's is: "Life is a chaos of rainbows"

Dena Pawling said...

In my opinion, a moth with a 6”+ wingspan is not something I want to encounter in the dark. Yikes!

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

KDJames said...

That caterpillar is so colourful, it looks like a toy! Thanks for sharing, NM, and for all your conservation work.

Oh, so many quotes/sayings I love. The one that comes to mind most often, recently, is something my dad would say when one of us kids encountered a difficult task (and whined about it). "Oh course you can do it. Just put your whole mind to it." A sort of affirmation and shaming at the same time.

Lisa: I LOVE that quote!

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

A saying: "if wishes were horses then beggars could ride."

Another saying: "good enough for government work."

Not a saying: three (four?) years ago we had a Crecopia moth on our outside garage wall one evening. And then we had two! They were , um, very much in love. And it was one of the coolest things, they are HUGE and BEAUTIFUL and also very "furry" looking. I looked for eggs after they were gone, but didn't see any; I was hoping for our house to become a regular stop!

Lennon Faris said...

"The story does not change things. But it makes the darkness bearable." - from the essay, "The Shape of Darkness as it Overtakes Us" by Dimas Ilaw.

KDJames shared that article once and the whole piece really hit home, because every now and then I feel guilty about caring about stories when there is so much "real" stuff going on in the world. On my worst days, no matter how "real" my problems are, art makes my day better. Art is vital.

Also, that really is a cool caterpillar.

AJ Blythe said...

I have two which I think I have said before, but I will say again:
Never Give up! Never surrender! (Galaxy Quest)
The most painful thing to experience is not defeat but regret. (Leo Buscaglia)

french sojourn said...


KDJAMES; Growing up with five sisters, my dad would often try to say something along the lines of... "Well, another way of looking at it is"... However what he said drove my sisters and I crazy. "Well, if you were smart..." I put an end to his occasional thoughtlessness by pointing out my limited genetics.

LISA: One of my favorites.

KDJames said...

HA! Good retort, Hank. Although you're completely underselling your genetics, methinks. Sayings like that wouldn't be so irritating if they didn't contain a big grain of truth. SO many things in life (my life, anyway) would be far more easily accomplished if I did indeed "put my whole mind to it" rather than allowing parts of it to wander off occasionally.