Another Day-Flying Moth
(Click to Enlarge)
This is another moth that could be mistaken for a butterfly, or even a beetle. It’s a Lichen moth, from what I can tell in the same genus as the pale-orange moth in an earlier post. The caterpillars feed on lichens. In the first photo, you can see the moth’s straw-like proboscis, which is coiled up like a hose when it’s not eating, but then uncoils when it’s time to sip nectar. I included the second photo, with the small bumblebee worker, because even though the photo isn’t that well-composed, I liked how it showed that these flower clusters were the only restaurant in town — beetles, bees, moths, flies, and butterflies of many types were constantly jockeying for a spot at the table.
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