This is a zoomed in photo of the flowers of a common garden herb. Can you guess what it is? * I've grown it for years but never noticed how pretty the flowers and seedheads are until now.
This is a Luna moth (Actius luna), also known as the American moon moth. One morning last week it was perched above the front entrance of our school. I mentioned it to the principal and a couple of teachers, but no one else seemed too impressed. That's okay, because when my little crew of four friends made their morning stop by the office to say hi, I took them out to see it and they were.
A couple of extra kids tagged along, about six in all, and they ooh'ed and ahh'ed over its beauty. Then I dropped a fun fact about Luna moths: the adult moth doesn't have a mouth or a digestive system! It lives its adult life entirely on the energy it stored as a caterpillar. Of course, its adult life is only about a week, but still. The kids all loved it. When I sent them on to class, most of them hugged me, and sweet Emogene said, "Thank you for teaching us something cool!" That made my day.
*Flat Leaf Parsley
