Go to Unsolved Mystery Publications Main Index Go to Free account page
Go to frequently asked mystery questions Go to Unsolved Mystery Publications Main Index
Welcome: to Unsolved Mysteries 1 2 3
 
 New Mystery StoryNew Unsolved Mystery UserLogon to Unsolved MysteriesRead Random Mystery StoryChat on Unsolved MysteriesMystery Coffee houseGeneral Mysterious AdviceSerious Mysterious AdviceReplies Wanted on these mystery stories
 




Show Stories by
Newest
Recently Updated
Wanting Replies
Recently Replied to
Discussions&Questions
Site Suggestions
Highest Rated
Most Rated
General Advice

Ancient Beliefs
Angels, God, Spiritual
Animals&Pets
Comedy
Conspiracy Theories
Debates
Dreams
Dream Interpretation
Embarrassing Moments
Entertainment
ESP
General Interest
Ghosts/Apparitions
Hauntings
History
Horror
Household tips
Human Interest
Humor / Jokes
In Recognition of
Lost Friends/Family
Missing Persons
Music
Mysterious Happenings
Mysterious Sounds
Near Death Experience
Ouija Mysteries
Out of Body Experience
Party Line
Philosophy
Poetry
Prayers
Predictions
Psychic Advice
Quotes
Religious / Religions
Reviews
Riddles
Science
Sci-fi
Serious Advice
Strictly Fiction
Unsolved Crimes
UFOs
Urban Legends
USM Events and People
USM Games
In Memory of
Self Help
Search Stories:


Stories By AuthorId:


Google
Web Site   

Bookmark and Share



He caught my attention last summer..... mercury

  Author:  10245  Category:(Interesting) Created:(8/25/2006 8:13:00 AM)
This post has been Viewed (1128 times)

Almost everyday, I'd see him hoving, all alone, around the phlox next to the driveway. He'd flit from bloom to bloom, taking a small sample from each flower and then diappearing the instant I appeared near the plants.

This year he seems to be a little more bold. I've been able to get some really good looks at him before he takes off. I've even gotten to snap a couple of shots with my camera, but he's too small to be seen without magnification, and then he disappears in the pixels. I need a better camera.

He's less than 2 inches long, and has a chubby little body that's covered with what looks like brown fur. His tail end is kind of triangular, resembling tailfeathers. His head is an irridecent green, with what looks like a long tubed tongue protruding from what appears to be a beak. I can't see the wings, but the blurry spots I see beside him must be the apparatus he uses to hover like that.

I had a couple of species in mind as to what this might be, but it didn't fit clearly into either of them. He moved like a hummingbird, but looked more like a bee. I've never seen a bee that looked anything like this thing, and hummingbird just didn't seem right. It had to be a bug and I had to find out what it was!

After looking at dozens and dozens of hummingbird species, I finally found it. And what I have is a case of mistaken identity.

He is a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. He's a resident of the Mediterranean, Central Asia and Japan. They migrate to northern Europe in the spring and there's evidence of return migration in the fall.

I start wondering how this one managed to make it all the way to Michigan.

After doing a little more research, I find that they are getting more common to Eastern states, but still considered kind of rare in the United States.

Cool! :o)

Mine's not so colorful, but here's a clearer picture than any I've managed (3rd one down): http://whatsthatbug.com/clearwing_moth.html

How it changed my life:

another mystery solved :o)

You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click here

Scroll all the way down to read replies.

Show all stories by   Author:  10245 ( Click here )

Halloween is Right around the corner.. .







 
Replies:      
Date: 8/25/2006 8:17:00 AM  From Authorid: 27534    Looks like an alien stealth bomber....wow....thanks for the share....  
Date: 8/25/2006 8:20:00 AM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    weird isn't it?  
Date: 8/25/2006 8:21:00 AM  From Authorid: 27534    Not really.....considering nature does a lot to protect itself by design, color, adaptation....but it is an eye catcher.....the ones that weird me are like the orthopods? If that is right...the slimy snail types....  
Date: 8/25/2006 8:23:00 AM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    not in a creepy way... just an unusual way. I've never been bothered by him. He brightens my every day between 3 and 5   
Date: 8/25/2006 8:25:00 AM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    I don't like the bugs that I call "the many legged things". I'm not sure what they are, some sort of centipede, I guess. I never saw one before we moved to this house and they run across the bathroom floor every once in awhile. Those creep me out! They move fast, too.  
Date: 8/25/2006 8:37:00 AM  From Authorid: 27534    Hahahaha....Yeah we all have our favorites and disfavorites when it comes to etimology....the ones I really have problems with bite and you can't see....  
Date: 8/25/2006 8:54:00 AM  From Authorid: 8024    smiles Entomology was a very hard subject 4 me cool murc...
  
Date: 8/25/2006 11:35:00 AM  From Authorid: 11341    Cool Merc! All I see are the moths that find their way into my house at night, fly in my face and bounce off my computer screen lol.  
Date: 8/25/2006 11:45:00 AM  From Authorid: 59876    is this your many legged creature merc? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_centipede  
Date: 8/25/2006 11:50:00 AM  From Authorid: 59876    what a cool moth! i'd be out there to see it every day too. got me to thinkingthough, the other night when my aunt and uncle were visiting, we were all outside and i was watering the tomatos. it was after nine and fully dark, but as i was watering, there was hummingbirds on the tomato plants sucking nectar. it gave me a fright because i coldn't really see the details other than they were very fast which gave me the assumption it was a hummingbird, and somewhat hornet shaped which is the part that scared me lol. i was enchanted thogh because they kept coming so close to me and hummingbirds aren't known to do that. i've been out watering late several more times since then so i could see it again, but i haven't seen them again. now i am thinking perhaps it was a moth. it was awfully late at night and i didn't know such a thing existed. now i'm really hoping to ssee it again. thanks for sharing merc that was really neat   
Date: 8/25/2006 11:53:00 AM  From Authorid: 32763    The head reminds me of a catfish. LOL  
Date: 8/25/2006 12:31:00 PM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    yep! that's it Doh. eeeew! I don't like them.  
Date: 8/25/2006 12:32:00 PM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    LOL you still haven't gotten those screens, have you?  
Date: 8/25/2006 12:34:00 PM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    LOL a catfish?  
Date: 8/25/2006 12:36:00 PM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    There are other hawk moths, too, Doh. some prefer night time, but mine likes the sunshine. It makes more sense for them to be at your house than mine, too, since they come from Asia... you're a little closer ;o)  
Date: 8/25/2006 5:26:00 PM  From Authorid: 58308    Pretty cool, Merc! Nice to see ya!! *smiles*  
Date: 2/8/2007 9:51:00 PM  From Authorid: 5349    That's crazy, especially because I saw one about 8 years ago at my grandma's house and ever since then I've always thought it was just some freak of nature, it's more or less haunted me.
In other news, I miss you and I've been thinking about you like crazy as of late. I'll probably give you a call soon.
  
Date: 2/9/2007 7:17:00 AM  ( From Author ) From Authorid: 10245    I was thinking he was a freak of nature, too! LOL  

Find great Easter stories on Angels Feather
Information Privacy policy and Copyrights

Renasoft is the proud sponsor of the Unsolved Mystery Publications website.
See: www.rensoft.com Personal Site server, Power to build Personal Web Sites and Personal Web Pages
All stories are copyright protected and may not be reproduced in any form, except by specific written authorization

Pages:1502 1184 790 317 1407 626 599 484 918 853 834 632 1516 1125 615 1498 296 1060 1191 635 691 456 61 445 1197 1123 1501 600 502 1101 291 466 1406 488 1033 329 749 1266 1084 1422 533 1124 1076 1546 252 483 1444 701 813 325 948 704 861 411 400 418 1506 1112 389 978 248 830 1006 211 1298 228 367 268 710 448 1540 1242 699 143 672 1600 370 897 1108 601 1243 252 721 1125 376 1133 436 100 1491 874