Tag Archives: Elegant Sheepmoth

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As I showed you yesterday, there is a lovely little lagoon on the northern portion of Manchester State Beach. There I saw two birds wading in the water. The one on the left was about half the size of the other one. Ron LeValley identified it as a Pectoral Sandpiper. The bird on the right is a Short-billed Dowitcher.

Below there is a portion of a boat, with the metal piece that held the anchor, that recently washed up on the beach. Someone has already incorporated it into a driftwood "building."

And below Mel Smith and Linda Bostwick are standing next to a small refrigerator. It's very heavy. This and the portion of the boat might be precursors of the tsunami debris head our way from the Japanese disaster.

We were lucky and had a sighting of an Elegant Sheepmoth for our own!

And as we picked up debris, a flock of Canada Geese passed by, their wingbeats were audible in the calm morning air.

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Karen Tracy and a friend were walking on the bluffs recently when they came across this beautiful Elegant Sheep Moth, Hemileuca eglanterina. It is a Silk Moth and a California native. This moth only appears in the summer and is a rare sighting.

With its pink wings highlighted in black and its yellow body, this is one beautiful moth. No surprise, this California native feeds on native plants, which include Ceanothus and California Coffee-Berry.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photo with you here. To see another photo of this moth showing two mating, here is the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/10/16/elegant-sheepmoth-a-beautiful-and-rare-moth-photographed-by-patricia-mcbratney/

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Patricia McBratney recently noticed a colorful moth in her garden on The Sea Ranch. She sent me several photographs to see if I knew what is was. Will Ericson to the rescue! Will identified the moth as a Hemileuca eglanterina, subspecies shastaensis, which is commonly called an Elegant Sheepmoth. In one photo there are two moths. Will explained the female was higher on the blade of grass and had attracted a male to mate with her. This is a rare sighting in the Mendonoma Coast and I'm very happy Patricia allowed me to share these photos with you.

And the mating moths.