#ghost moth

now this return of a ghost from the shadows, moth-soft.

its breath visibly pleated inside a small unspeaking mouth.

its beaded eyes, condensed obsidian spheres, moonflower intense.

i befriend darkness by its wings that are half sheen half lace. and measure space by its wingspan to travel light years into the past. when you and I were aflutter against blinding love.

i tell you "i am lost without you."

"love doesn't need a memory" you whisper.

"i wish …" i begin to say

but every memory dissolves into diffused light.

Aenetus scripta

A moth found in southwestern Australia. The hindwings are blue in males and yellow in females.

Todays moth is the ghost moth!!!

More bugs!! pepetuna (pūriri moth), huhu beetle, and pupurangi (kauri snail)

Moth girlfriends!

AKA Elhamma cervinata, Hepialus despectus, Porina vexata, and Pielus variolaris.

A Hepialid endemic to New Zealand, where it was first described by Francis Walker in 1865. I'm not sure how many of those scientific names above are the result of him describing the same species more than once. He became notorious for that.

These are both males - females have indistinct markings at best. A common moth in grassy areas around New Zealand, where the caterpillars devour clover and grass, and may have been a pest of kūmara when sweet potato was more intensively grown as a staple crop.

Forest splendid ghost moth, Aenetus eximia, Hepialidae

Found from southern Queensland to Tasmania