A Hairy, Big 'Eyed' Luna Moth In the Garden

  Need I say more? The pictures say it all. Note the hairs and the last photo clearly shows those 'eyes'...

in the garden....

For another post on luna moths In the Garden check this post here.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Flying Flowers

Yesterday, I showed you my Butterfly Island. Today, I would like to take you in the mist of the island to see some of the beautiful Butterflies and Hummingbirds or "Flying Flowers" as I like to call them.

I have 2 Hummingbird feeders nestled in the middle of the island for the bird species of the Flying Flowers. I think the tiny Hummingbirds are little flowers themselves with their brilliant colors!
Hummingbirds sip sweet nectar from the butterfly bushes and the feeders we provide. Here in Georgia we have the Ruby-Throated hummer as our guest.


See the males vibrant red throat? Compare his tiny size to the telephone cable he is sitting on!

The female does not have the ruby colored red throat but she is a very colorful little bird just the same.

Such a tiny bird but don't let her size fool you. I saw her chasing an Eastern Phoebe bird many times her size away from the area! Here she stands guard against any intruders! Note that the other day, the male had this area in control.

I am very proud of this next picture. I snapped 165 pictures on Friday just to attempt to capture her in flight! My persistence paid off as I was able to catch her for you to see. Just wish I had a better camera or knew how to work the settings I have on this camera! ha ha...

The shot of the male in flight is not quit as good. The female was chasing him off every time he entered the picture! She was being so rude this day!

Not sure those hummers constitute "Holy Grail" status Gail and Frances. Am I at least close enough for the consolation prize? Giggle...

This Sphinx Moth is often mistaken for a hummingbird since they closely resemble them. I know, not a great clear picture of the Sphinx. I tried my best but this little bugger was too busy and would not slow down for me! I recall someone else snapping a fairly good picture of one and thought it was Dave but I could not find a label to the Sphinx over at The Home Garden. Dave, was it you or am I mistaken?

I have 3 colors of Butterfly bush in the island. Two shades of purple and a white to make up the beauty. It appears that the butterflies prefer the white because most pictures of the butterflies were taken while on the white bushes.




As Frances over at the Faire Garden has mentioned, it is very difficult to capture a fluttering butterfly or bug busy at work! I had to be very patient and snap lots of useless, blurry pictures to capture the photographs I have for you!

*I am not sure I have identified the butterflies correctly as some look a bit differently then they appear in my butterfly book. If you can identify them correctly, please do so for me...

Now sit back and enjoy more Flying Flowers!

Tiger Swallowtail:

Tiger Swallowtail: under side view.

Long-Tailed Skipper: Top View; The colors remind me of the hummers Long-Tailed Skipper:Under side view was not as colorful.
Common Sootywing:
Painted Lady:
Common Checkered Skipper: Silver-spotted Skipper:
Banded Hairstreak:you may have to enlarge the pic to see this one. Pipevine Swallowtail:
Black Swallowtail: Can you tell the difference between these two? Pearl Crescent:
Gulf Fritilliary: Open wing and under wing view.Gulf Fritillary: Under wing view.
Gulf Fritillary: Open Wing view.
Dun Skipper:

Variegated Fritillary:
Yellowpatch Skipper:
Firey Skipper:

Buckeye:

Zebra Swallowtail:
Lunar Moth: I know, the Lunar moth is not a butterfly nor is it in the butterfly island. I just wanted you to see it because I think it is beautiful with its day glow color of green. I never realized how many different types of butterflies we had fluttering around in the Butterfly Island until I started snapping pictures. I then had a closer look and was shocked at how many we have. Keep in mind, I only snapped these pictures over two weeks time. We have many more types as they come and go all summer long.

If you do not have butterflies in your garden, then put out the Welcome Mat by planting a Butterfly Bush! I promise, you will not be sorry you did!

My favorite would be the Gulf Fritillary. (I may live in Georgia but I am a Tennessee girl at heart- Go Big Orange!) Which one do you like the best?

I am so happy I created this simple Butterfly Island and I enjoy all the FLYING FLOWERS, In the Garden...

Luna

I really like night lighting and posted about a different type of night lighting before (see : Night Lighting , but this kind of lighting here is not an ornamental type. My little street lamp above my garage door is not highlighting the house, but only providing security and much needed light during the night time hours.

One of the unfortunate side effects of this type of lighting is the fact it attracts all sorts of creatures of the night. To name just a few: bats, moths, beetles, toads, and birds. An unwitting victim of the night lighting is the Luna moth. Stepping outside recently I noticed one fluttering on the ground right outside the garage door. Not one to waste an opportunity I grabbed my handy camera and snapped a picture. This moth is still alive in the photo but it could not fly and initially was upside down. I righted it but still couldn't fly. It was doomed, not really a night lighting victim, but a victim of its short life span.



According to the following website: http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/luna.html, luna moths are a rare find in the eastern United States. though they are common in the wild all the way from southern Canada to Maine to Florida. We have been blessed with many luna moths on or near our garage because of the night light. These moths have a short life span of only one week and lay just 4-6 eggs. In the north the luna moths eat the leaves of paper birches. Down here in the south they prefer the leaves of the persimmon tree.

These moths are welcomed into my garden anytime and I do appreciate the opportunity to see them, regardless of my 'streetlight' lamp being a bit of an eyesore. They moths are beautiful and quite regal and always a joy to see fluttering around. The next morning this luna was gone, probably eaten by some early bird or nocturnal predator.

I am on a steep learning curve trying to figure out the whole link thing with this blog, so please have patience as I know the night lighting link did not work but I will continue to learn. If you would like to see the night lighting post it is in the February archives.

in the garden....