Today I photographed a new species of moth, the One-eyed Sphinx (also known as Cerisy’s Sphinx).  A few days ago, I found four of these cool looking moths near the front door of the staff house.  The moths are attracted to our porch light, which sometimes gets left on overnight when staff members are out late or just forget to turn it off.  The moths come to the light, then as daylight breaks, they cling to something solid.  In the morning, you can find all sorts of cool bugs, still and cold, clung on to the side of the house and screen windows.

Unfortunately, I did not have my photography gear at the time, but I hoped that at least one or two of the moths would return, and just last night, I got lucky.  When I woke up this morning, there was one lone Sphinx Moth clung to the side of the house.  I carefully moved the insect to some green plants, but the moth had difficultly clinging to their smooth leaves, so I ended up placing it on the trunk of a Hemlock tree, where it was much more comfortable and stayed still for a few dozen shots.  While I’m not crazy about the setting, I am excited to get some new photos and a new species as well.  Hopefully, I’ll get a few more chances at photographing Sphinx Moths and other species of insects.

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