Just Outside Our Door

Just outside our door there are always amazing things to discover. Some weeding dislodges an ants’ home, as they scramble to move dozens of eggs that now lay exposed because of my interference.
On the foundation outside the front door two long green moths are spread out, slick against the cement like tattered leaves with eyes. I tried to entice one on my hand so my husband could take a better photo. It seemed like it was shaking, but it was only the breeze rustling its wings. It vibrated for a few seconds, like a helicopter building up speed and then flew off awkwardly. It seemed the size of a small bird.
The other – a cousin perhaps? Is still glued to the cement. It’s been there for hours. It let me measure it…3 inches long, 4 inches wide.

Later my spiritual director told me it was most likely a lunar month...common in the Eastern U.S., but a rare find, particularly during the day as they are nocturnal. The adults only live one week after emerging from their cocoons and only to mate, the females to lay eggs after mating. They have no mouths for during that time they do not eat. How sad, I said to my husband, to know this moth that spent hours by the foundation outside our home will only live a few days longer. Don't be sad he said...it does not know.

On the internet I read there are over 125,000 identified species of moths, and about 12,000 species of butterflies.