Sunday, May 9, 2010

Antennae to die for

His antennae are fully 3/4" wide, each. Doesn't get much better than this.

Here is the post describing my finding the cocoon and everything.

It's a male Polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus.
Here's some good ID book links
A Field Guide to the MOTHS of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides)
Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Field Guides)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Also, I found some morels, but I didn't care



The morels I found on this day were pretty much overshadowed by the emerging Polyphemus moth I found.

Still, my first love is mushrooms.

Dryad's Saddle, in a big way


















Polyporus squamosus.
My open pocket knife is 5-3/8" long.
The grey cast on the ground is dropped spores.
These are getting a little older; young, fresh specimens are more yellow (and you can see them from really far away).

These are perfectly edible, but it's one of the weirdest things I've ever tasted. They smell just like watermelon rind, or cucumber. Maybe if I didn't expect them to taste like "mushrooms" I would like them better.

I dunno, some people really like them; I'd try them again.