Subject: Knights Templar Bug
Location: 36.13°N 78.66°W (Elev. 341 ft)
July 4, 2016 12:09 pm
Last Sunday, 26th June, I walked out on my patio sidewalk to get in my card to go to Mass. As I past by some of my bedding plants, I looked down and saw this bug on one of my Rudbeckia flowers. I was really taken by it and have no doubt why it was there. You see, I am Franciscan by nature and belong to the Catholic Secular Franciscan Order. Can you identify the bug for me? I have been calling it the “Knights Templar Bug”, since its image reminds me of one of the shield a Templar Knight would carry.
Signature: Louis Coker
Dear Louis,
You are not the first person who has written to us after noticing religious symbolism in the markings of the Clymene Moth.
Wow, that was quick, but I guess if you are a bug expert, it would be easy to identify given its unique markings. Many thanks for solving the mystery.
Louis Coker