Day #15: On insects and rabbit holes

This small moth, about a half-inch long, was flying half-heartedly around the bathroom yesterday. I was unsuccessful in trapping it, but managed a photo. It had the prettiest, shiny, dark copper-colored top wings, which you can’t really see here.

Today, I saw it again, caught it in a cup, and released it outside. Then, I dove head first down the rabbit hole of insect identification apps and Google Photo trying to figure out what it was.

I like to know the names of things. Not the category — it is a flying insect, or it is a moth. I want to know its given name. As a writer, I know specificity is important. It’s how we communicate with others. If I say, “I found a moth,” you might be picturing a Cecropia (below).

If I name it, you and I both know what we’re talking about.

Being curious, I also want to be able to research to find a bit more about this creature that wandered into my bathroom. Is it considered a pest? What does it eat? Where does it live?Without its name, I can’t get beyond some generalities about moths. Why do I care? I just want to know.

But alas, I still don’t know. Maybe it’s a dimorphic macalla moth, or a black-dotted brown moth. Or another type whose picture I found sometime during the last two hours (!) that I have been searching but now can’t recall the name for nor can I find it again.

Instead of writing. I do know how to distract myself.

Research is an occupational hazard for writers, I’m told.

Wait! Does that make me a writer?