Subject: Large GORGEOUS green mothlike insect
Location: Charlottesville, VA
August 30, 2013 5:57 pm
This was clinging to the doorframe of my tobacconist in Charlottesville, VA, today around 10. The clerk said it had been there when she came in to open the shop, and she’d seen another one recently. As I watched, it moved its legs just enough to indicate it wasn’t dead, but otherwise it didn’t seem responsive — given the date, it’s presumably at the end of its lifespan. The photos were taken with an iPhone 5. At first glance, it looks like a moth or butterfly, but the antennae seem to be missing, the legs are all weird, and the body doesn’t really look right either.
I think that’s all the vital data, so I’ll go on to say OH MY GAWD THAT IS GORGEOUS. It’s obviously forest camo, (at first glance, the clerk actually thought it was a leaf), but that kind of shading is something I’d usually associate with fungi or seashells, rather than something that’s just trying to be inconspicious.
Signature: Dave Harmon
Subject: Second follow-up on my “Ask WTB” submission (Pandora sphinx)
August 30, 2013 6:44 pm
And having finally thought to seach for “Sphinx” itself, on page 16 or so I find the Pandora Moth, which exactly matches the pattern.
Signature: Dave Harmon
Hi Dave,
We see by your followup letter that you have already identified your Pandorus Sphinx. Your letter is very entertaining.