Oh It's Just a Dumb Old Moth

This morning I was out in the backyard clearing some branches away from one of our apple trees. While heading back indoors I noticed this poor beaten up moth lying on our patio. For some reason it got me to thinking about how important moths really are. They are the often overlooked ugly cousin to the butterfly and they occupy an important part of our environment. Their primary role is that they are food for most everything else. They are eaten by other insects, spiders,bears,frogs, toads, lizards, shrews, hedgehogs, bats and birds. Caterpillars are one of the most important things that moths offer in the ecosystem. In springtime returning migrating bats rely on moths as one of their sole food supplies. Roughly ninety five percent of baby birds are provided a diet of insects by their parents and a significant part of that is in the form of caterpillars from moths. So moths play a critical role in the lives of many species. By the way I don't think they are ugly. Moths come in an amazing amount of sizes patterns and colors. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris both images were created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens on a tripod.