Well I never!

First of all, great response for the frog blip of yesterday. I guess I got lucky as head on view of a frog is a rare sight. Frogs are always are a popular blip but the head on view seems to bring the animal alive. I had to stitch in a bit of nose from another image that I shot for the purpose, as the blurred nose would be a distraction. Time consuming but worth the effort.

As for today's blip, the wasp moth is quite a common sight. There are many variants of size and color from 6mm to this 20mm specimen, varying from traditional yellow and black to a vivid blue. This specimen has a touch of blue trying to break out. I had planned to show a full size view of this stunning moth but once I zoomed in during the editing process, I noticed a striking feature that escaped me during the session.

The moth had two probosces, known as galeae in the scientific world. Thinking that I had discovered something new, I did some research:

When butterflies and moths emerge from the pupae, they actually have two separate probosces, a fact usually overlooked because of the amazing spectacle of the wings being pumped to life. Very soon, the two probosces are joined together by a feathered edge and are hardened to create a single proboscis structure with a tube for drawing fluids.

Prior to joining, the individual probosces only form a half tube and are useless for feeding. The insect only gets one chance to join the probosces together and occasionally they fail, resulting in starvation unfortunately.

Well I never!

Dave