What you see sticking up there are this tiny moth's hind legs! They raise the legs up upon landing and is normal for these species. This little guy was a little larger than a grain of rice!! It walked around flashing its beautiful, iridescent wings, and I think it was probably meant to attract mates. Studying other flowers, I saw many of these tiny moths! Isn't it amazing and beautiful?! :)
I learned that this is a kind of "micromoth" in the Heliodinidae group, known as "Sun moths". Micromoths aren't an official classification but are a grouping of the many extremely small moths around the world. They share many of the same characteristics, and also often behave differently than "normal" moths. For instance, many species are diurnal (active during the day). If you would like to know more about these fascinating, beautiful moths, Wiki has a page here:
Wikipedia: Microlepidoptera
5 comments
Schussentäler said:
tiabunna said:
Don Sutherland said:
Jim Boynton said:
micritter said: