From most of the pictures on this blog, you might think that the only animals we saw this summer were the ones that flew into our nets. Not so!
Big red fuzzy moth
Of course, whether I can identify these non-birds is a different matter entirely. If you see anything you recognize, please comment and let me know what these exoskeleton-clad creatures are.
The antennae on this moth look like equipment for SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence). Some male moths use their antennae to follow trails of pheromones through the air to find females who are ready to mate.
Alkali bluets in tandem
These alkali bluets (I’m 80% confident on that identification) have already mated. Now, the blue male keeps hold of the brown female to make sure that she doesn’t mate with anyone else before she lays eggs.
This fly eating a bug landed on Hillary’s blue jeans. I’m 100% confident on the identification of both the fly and the bug.
Spider. (The weird material he’s standing on is a tent.) Such cute eyes.
This shiny little beetle crawled around on my shirt for the entire time it took to set up a mist net.
Jumping spider
This guy was fantastically colorful. He drummed and waved his legs, either threatening or courting us—unfortunately I don’t speak Jumping Spider.
And finally, my favorite: can you find him?
Where is he?
Boo!
Such a well-camouflaged praying mantis
Tough Little Birds 
Where were you and the moth? Saturniid moth…..but there are lots of them. Looks similar to cecropia or prometheus. If you haven’t ID’d this yet, I have a friend at the Smithsonian who will probably know a couple of microseconds after seeing the photo.
Tom Hodgson
I and the moth were on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Arnold, CA. I haven’t IDed the moth yet – don’t have a good invertebrate field guide. (It’s bad, I know.) I’d certainly be interested to know what it is!
Pretty sure it’s a silk moth. I started looking it up after my cat tried to eat one this morning!
Thanks! And, oh dear – did the cat succeed?