Pandorus Box

My daughter ran into my room and got me out of bed this morning; she's a budding photographer and knows a photo op when she sees one. Apparently there was an amazing green moth on the breezeway.

I was hoping for a Luna moth, something which I have never seen in person, but was greeted by the beauty above. The Pandorus Sphinx moth (or Hawk moth) isn't incredibly common in Ohio but is seen in other parts of the US. She easily the size of a hummingbird and had a wingspan of around 6 inches. God's creation never ceases to amaze me.

She was a very patient model and stood still for around 45 minutes while I took picture after picture. Her wings were so gorgeous, the way the scales shimmered. She was also very soft and tolerated me petting her - for a little while. When she flew, her wings were loud and sounded like a helicopter. She looked like and had the heft of a hummingbird. She was too big for me to get a full close-up photo, so the picture below is a photo merge that I did on photobucket. Look at how large her eye is!

I am an insect lover (silverfish and earwigs creep me out, but that's about it). Miss Pandorus took me over the top.

Kendall's capture