Polyphemus in hand

Usually, I have to walk to the wildlife, but sometimes, it just comes to me. So it was this evening when I heard, as I had last night, a thumping on the back door. I caught enough of a quick glimpse of the culprit to know that the thumper, who was very intent on getting into the house, was a moth, and a big one, from the strength of the pounding on the glass. I quickly went outside to try to find it, and no sooner was I and my camera in place than the flier paused for a moment on the Boston Fern hanging from the porch roof. It was tired enough from all that effort that the moth, a male from the size of its feathery antennae, allowed me to pick it up. When I did so, it flashed two huge eye patches on its back wings—eyes evolved to surprise predators and give the moth time to escape; eyes that figure in the moth's common name: Polyphemus, a Cyclops from Greek mythology. I wasn't startled. Rather, I was awed by this giant silk moth, a very welcome visitor.