Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Guest post!

(Sorry if you're getting bugged by all these, JHRME, but this one you have to blame on Mark!)

I received this photo today from my California friend, Mark. You all remember him, right... the displaced Minnesota farmer? Yep, him. He and his wife, Cindy, are part owners of Lakeview Cottages, which is where Mark took the photo.

(Click to enlarge.)

Mark said: "I found this Butterfly on the side of a cabin and was totally fascinated with its color. In person its wings look like silk and the body it of was very furry almost like a cat. It was amazing." He also told me that those little white things are eggs it was laying.

I thought it was gorgeous, and Mark got my curiosity up, so I had to do some research to find out what it was. It is a Ceanothus Silk Moth (Hyalophora Euryalus). They are found in far western North America. Their wing span can be 3.5-5 inches (Mark didn't say how big this one was. I think he had to get back to work instead of emailing me. ;-) )

For more information on these cool moths, look here, and for some awesome photos that really show the "furriness" that Mark mentioned, look here.

Thanks, Mark, for the photo and for piquing my curiosity! Now go apologize to JHRME for me for yet another buggy post! ;-)

8 comments:

The Luedtke Family said...

Bug on, just keep buggin on! Because in a few months the frost will come and all will be gone!!!!

What is next? The late summer bees that are persistent and dive-bombing your face! Can't leave a beverage out for long as a buzzing bee might be inside!

Grandma G said...

Frost. Y'know what? That actually sounds good right now!

Dive-bombing bees?! We don't have any of those. If you wanna make a video, I'll let you do a guest post! ;)

Anonymous said...

thanks for giving me credit as a guest post, considering all i did was send a picture. i have wanted to do a guest post on Cindy's blog but she is afraid i will out her on the true story of her fabric stash. i have considered holding and "intervention" but i am not sure it will help.

the pictures you found are great and it is what it looked like.

thank you for letting me be a guest post. my first blog ever.

Mark

P.S. i was going to call it my virgin post but i know this is a 'G' rated blog and i didn't want to offend any body so i didn't say that.

JHNickodemus said...

Moths eat wool an since I grew a yarn stash have become one of my greater enemies. They also lurk in the camp bathroom (because the lights stay on and the door stays open due to shower humidity.) The like to florescent light bathe on the counters and fly up and scare un suspecting campers/counselors. I've broken up many a scream fest resulting from one of those furry guys.

Grandma G said...

Mark, forget the intervention... it's hopeless. ;) And I'm glad you didn't say what you almost said. lol

JHRME, I think I read that these moths don't eat anything. But as big as they get, they certainly would be scary to meet at night!

Anonymous said...

Hello Mark,

If your H. euryalus are reaching L5 or pupation, please let me know. I've always wanted to raise and breed euryalus from cocoons, and have sought for anyone who might have pupae. Considering that you had ova, the larval phase is surely nearing completion. Please let me know. I am willing to exchange with you for pupae from other saturniidae.

Thank you,

Henry

Anonymous said...

Hi JHRME,

I enjoyed your blog on the Ceanothus Silkmoth. It was very well written and very interesting. I wanted to append this message to the former. Mark's larvae should near pupation by the end of September. Since you have personal contact with Mark, please let him know of the posted comment.

Thank you,

Henry

Grandma G said...

Hi Henry,

Thanks for your interest in my blog post. I'm afraid, however, that Mark had previously told me that the eggs were gone when he next was at the location 2 weeks later. If you want to email me via the link on my sidebar, I can forward your email to Mark in case he should happen to see more of the moths or eggs.

Grandma G (Owner of the blog. JHRME is just a commentor.)