Day 129: While many insects exhibit camouflage colouring and wing form, none does it quite as well as the Perjured Maple Moth (Periurus acernis). Only recently discovered in Washington state, it is easy to see how it might have been present here for centuries without being noticed. I was fortunate to find this specimen (a male - it lacks the abdominal sac typical of females) at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The stiffly-haired thorax affords it protection from nut-eating mammals such as squirrels and small children. During its mating cycle, the wings are shed and the thorax ruptures to expose its reproductive organs.
You can't make up stuff like this...or can you? 'Fess up! Who bought into my little joke?
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