Signs of the Season

This moth, Mesoleuca gratulata, was alone on our garage door.
Here are two together deeply engaged on our sidewalk.
These two moths were connected for hours and hours. I emailed Bev at Burning Silo to ask her if this was typical moth reproductive behavior. She replied:

I asked Bill Oehlke (who has a silk moths website) about that last year when I found the mating pair of One-eyed Sphinx moths (Smerinthus cerisyi).
Here's a page that he put up about them.
On it, he writes:
The female (upper moth) is carrying a load of eggs as evidenced by her enlarged abdomen. Females usually do not fly until after they have mated. Pairing takes place at night and the moths often remain in copula until the following evening.
I don't know if that is true of all species of moths, but I would think it may well be the case for quite a few. I've occasionally found paired moths and they remain very still and are often in place an hour or more later.

It is like this all around our yard. The birds and bees are busy, seriously. This black-capped chickadee is pulling apart our doormat to make her nest. Ah, spring.

Have a great weekend, friends.