I woke up this morning to find this beauty resting on my windowsill.
According to the National Audubon Society, even though they are fairly common over their geographic range, they are a rare find due to the fact that their lifespan is only about a week and they are nocturnal creatures. I am lucky to see one almost every year since my house is situated right in the middle of it’s favored habitat, the deciduous forest. They generally emerge from their egg in the morning and find a place to rest and hang through the day to allow its wings to inflate with its blood before flying off at night to seek a mate. I guess this one felt my window was a perfect resting place.
An interesting fact is that because they only live for about 7 days, their only function is to procreate. Therefore, they have no mouth or digestive organs.
I had to leave around 9am, but he was still here when I got home a little after 2pm. (I say “he” because the male has fuller antennae and I don’t think they could get much bigger than this.) Tippy did investigate, but she didn’t bother it.
I cropped the picture so you can get a closer look at his underside. If you compare the antennae from this morning, you can tell that he filled out a lot during the day.
He’s an odd looking, fluffy creature that you want to hug and run away from all at once. If you took away the wings, it would make a perfect urban legend monster. Or maybe a mutant zombie Olaf? What do you think it looks like?
Tippy Tales 