August 15, 1985 - The Good Witch of the SouthPage 12A The Suffolk Times August 15, 1985
The Good Witch of the South
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
We're starting to see Monarch but-
terflies drift by slowly on their way
South. They search out the milkweed
in our pasture to dine on, stopping only
for a few moments to dance about and
then drift off to another.
Sometimes when I think we as a race
are getting too big for our britches and
bulging with technological know -how,
I say, "Make me a butterfly. Paint it
orange and black. Put it through the
various stages of life: the egg, the cater-
pillar, the cocoon and, of course, that
magical change -- the butterfly. Then
when you've accomplished that, send
this fragment weighing less than a
feather south through wind and rain
and storm to winter in the tropics. Then
to complete your task, send it back up
in the spring so it can return and `create'
a new life cycle." Until then, we are just
beginners.
Children pay much more attention to
these gossamers of the air than we
grownups. Butterfly nets seem to be a
child's delight, and hunting butterflies
is great sport for my grandson. His spec-
ialty is the yellow or white cabbage
moth.
Sometimes it is hard to tell the differ-
ence between a moth and a butterfly.
We had this problem just recently when
we had an unusual occurrence in our
front yard. Barbara was standing in the
driveway with her mother and daugh-
ter when they saw what they thought
was a bat flying toward the house. Its
wing beats were rapid and its size mas-
sive compared to a moth or butterfly.
As they watched it, it disappeared into
an open door of the house.
I was inside and knew nothing about
this until they came running in calling:
"Did you see that? Did you see that ?"
They went on to explain the disappear-
ing bat -like creature. After a bit of
searching, we found a huge dark -col-
ored moth clinging to our window cur-
tain. I measured it and the wing span
was seven inches from tip to tip.
Butterfly or Moth?
Out came the big moth book, one I
had picked up at a yard sale and am
particularly fond of. Then we pulled out
another book and another. We checked
Focus on
Nature
them all but nothing represented our
big moth. Someone had to know. There
is a fellow named John Cryon who
knows all about moths and butterflies,
so we gave him a call.
I began describing every detail of the
beautiful camouflage dark tree bark
coloring, the pale cream stripe along the
wing edge, the big bulging compound
eyes and the thick heavy body of the
moth. And when I told John about it
flying into the house, he immediately
called over the phone, "It has to be the
giant tropical moth called the black
witch!" He said this moth characteristi-
cally flies in and out of homes in the
tropics where it is accepted as a good
omen.
He went on to tell me that is is very
unusual to find and that it only comes
up our way after a big storm or hur-
ricane. Now the pieces were falling to-
gether. A hurricane had spawned in the
tropics and worked its way up the coast.
By the time it got here it was a mere
tropical storm, and with it this moth
must have come still carrying its
characteristic of looking for an
hacienda to spend the day in. To me it
made a beautiful story.
It was a rare visitor for sure, but John
told me that our own Roy Latham had
two records for this occurrence in Orient
many, many years ago. What a remark-
able man he was. Roy Latham, a self -
made naturalist, was and is still one of
the most respected naturalists this is-
land has ever produced.
It was good to see this moth had cho-
sen our home to fly into and it was dou-
bly rewarding to find out that there was
very little that went on in the outside
world that Roy Latham didn't know
about, collect or record. The more we
learn about this remarkable person, the
more the community is going to be
proud that Roy Latham was a part of
the East End.
FUEL OIL • KEROSENE
FUEL
AGWAY EAT NLG INSTDALLATIONS
-ENERGY PRODUCTIL SALES 6 SERVICE
Woter Heater
and Water Softening Equipment
SALES & RENTALS
PULASKI ST.
727 -3012
RIVERHEAD
COF DEPOSIT.
MINIMLJM DEPOSIT 1000
ANNUAL RATE ANNUAL YIELD
90550/o
8, O O •
Compounded Daily- Credited Monlhly
Rates subject to change without notice
Substanl:al interest penalties for early wilhdrawal of time deposits
'If 'll N�IV��nHEAD
.'AViNGS BANKS
• RIVERHEAD (Main Office) 7 W Main St 727 -3600 • RIVERHEAD 193 Gnfhng Ave 727 -8770
• EAST NORTHPORT 580 Larkfield Rd 368 -5900 • LAKE GROVE 2835 Middle Country Rd 585 1 100
• BAY SHORE E Main St. 968 -8600 • NORTH LINDENH`URST E Sunrise Hwy 884.2600
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
GIANT BLACK WITCH -- Carried by the tropical storm we had a few
weeks ago, this huge seven -inch moth chose our open doorway to fly
into. In checking the records, we found that Roy Latham of Orient had
collected two of these rare visitors years ago.
\ Aliano's Beachcomber Motel & Restaurant
• WATERFRONT DINING *
W�r�.ebe� • _ - a ON LONG ISLAND SOUND
\\\\
- +N. RESTAURANT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
from 6 Pm - 10 pro
-- STEAKS SEAFOOD COCKTAILS
i60011 • AIIUnil,AIC
•' AAA 8 Mobil Guide
Recommended 734 -6370
1� END OF DEPOT LANE
CUTCHOGUE ON L I. SOUND
Return.
to your fall edum tion
prepared,,.
Come in
and see our
large selection
of frames,
soft lenses
and CUSTOM
EYES T.M tinted
soft lenses
J. SAUER OPTICIANS
727 -3274
312 Roanoke Ave., Riverhead, NY 11901