Moth Fledgelings

Forest tent caterpillar moth.  Photo by Jasper.

At a picnic table at a rest stop in Washington, we were startled to find there were moths everywhere! We discovered that the underside of the table was festooned with dozens of cocoons, and many of the moths had chosen to emerge all at once, by some secret signal. They were forest tent caterpillar moths, and while their larvae are notorious tree defoliators, the adults do not eat.  They only live long enough to mate and lay their eggs. We watched them and marveled at how, within just a few minutes, their wings would unfold and they would fly away. I took a series of pictures of a single moth to see how this happened.  Nature can reveal its beauty in the most unexpected places.

Cocoons.

Forest tent caterpillar moth.  Photo by Jasper.