What a brilliant color!

Such a beautiful moth, MissSherry! Can you gauge its size?

I did a little research on this moth and found that it is the only North American moth in which the male showers the female with a toxin that protects them from predators during the mating process, which takes 9 hours, and continues to protect the female while she lays her eggs, and the eggs until they hatch. I'm attaching the article that I find quite interesting.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Scarlet-Bodied Wasp Moth

What an interesting article, Susan! The dog fennel isn't blooming now, should be pretty soon, though. I checked out the climbing hempweed, and it's grown real big up into a small tree and is blooming right now. I may try to gather seeds and sow them in several other wet spots, which is what they like.

I assume no mating will take place until the dog fennel is in bloom. I had read several years ago that it was important in the mating of scarlet bodied wasp moths, so I let it grow in my meadows even though I don't like the way it looks. With plenty of both the poison maker and the host plant, my chances of seeing a caterpillar should improve.

The moths are small. I'd compare their size to hummingbird clearwings, maybe a little smaller with their bodies being slimmer. Those colors really knock me out!

Sherry

What a cool moth Sherry. I hope they're making a comeback.
It's taking a long time to recover from Katrina.
That article was interesting. It makes a person wonder how much we don't know.

They are absolutely gorgeous little moths, MissSherry! They aren't in my range, but only along the Southern Coastline pretty much. Please post photos if you do find some eggs or cats.

Susan