'Scuse my geeking out over cool animals...

At 2 am this morning (don't ask me why I was still up at 2 am), I spotted this spectacular moth clinging to my front screen door. And fortunately for me, he didn't seem to mind being photographed. After a little research I identified it as a Striped Morning Sphinx, or White-lined Sphinx. It's supposedly one of the most common large moths in North America, and extends all the way to Canada & Mexico too. If they're so common, why don't I ever see them?! Oh, right... 2 am...

It reminded me of the cool & strange moth I saw on my cabin door while up in Montana for Kelley & Eric's wedding in August 2008. I later identified it as a One-eyed Sphinx, or Cerisy's Sphinx. The top-down view of this moth is interesting enough, but check out the shape of its body and size of its head & antennae from the side! I submitted the find to a website that tracks moth habitat. This was the first reported in Montana. Cool!