Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Aetole Moth

3 more pictures in notes above! :) You know, I think the insect population on our property is conspiring against me featuring Milkweed blossoms as my Picture of the Day! Granted, I have a "top down" view that I featured the other day, but these flowers are amazing when seen from the side too, and deserve top billing!! When I arrived at our now-dry pond, where the largest concentration of Milkweed flowers bloom, I saw a tiny white butterfly flitting about from blossom to blossom...and all thoughts of flowers flew out of my head. BUTTERFLY!!!!!! *hyperventilating begins* You know, someone really ought to get a video of me taking pictures of a butterfly. It would be totally hilarious. Creeeeeeep.... *click*... creeeeeeeeep.... *click*... *butterfly giggles and gives me a raspberry before flitting off to a flower a hundred feet away* *Janet comes up with a dozen new good-natured expletives...after all, butterflies are skittish! :D* Creeeeeep ... *click*.... creeeeep... *click* ... *butterfly cackles evilly and flies to the next state* *more good-natured expletives, big sigh, fingers crossed that maybe one will turn out* I used to try frantically aiming all over the place as a butterfly zoomed everywhere...FORGET IT! :D I won't bother anymore unless they are being at least a little consistent in their travels! (um, fat chance!) :D Anyway, I had a wonderful time with this butterfly. It actually hung out long enough for a wonderful series of images! Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre in his time. He set a standard for scientific and engineering plausibility, and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. Wikipedia: Robert A. Heinlein Explored on July 25, 2013. Highest placement, page 1 (#20).

I had a few images showing this butterfly's open wings that were a little more crisp, but this one shows both the butterfly and one of the tiny Aetole Moths I found on the flowers right next to it. I wanted to show the scale, and just so you know, the Acmon Blue was about the size of a dime, or about 3/4" in diameter.

Look at the lovely pattern and color of this stunning little moth! Exquisite. It's times like this that make me so overjoyed to have a macro lens--I could barely see this little guy!!! Now we can all appreciate its beauty! :)

What you see sticking up there are this tiny moth's hind legs! They raise the legs up upon landing and is normal for these species. This little guy was a little larger than a grain of rice!! It walked around flashing its beautiful, iridescent wings, and I think it was probably meant to attract mates. Studying other flowers, I saw many of these tiny moths! Isn't it amazing and beautiful?! :) I learned that this is a kind of "micromoth" in the Heliodinidae group, known as "Sun moths". Micromoths aren't an official classification but are a grouping of the many extremely small moths around the world. They share many of the same characteristics, and also often behave differently than "normal" moths. For instance, many species are diurnal (active during the day). If you would like to know more about these fascinating, beautiful moths, Wiki has a page here: Wikipedia: Microlepidoptera