1000-Knock Drill to Overcome Insect Phobia: No. 242, Sesuji-suzume (White-lined Sphinx Moth)

* I was unsure whether to use the kanji for 'back-stripe sphinx moth,' but since the 'Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten' dictionary lists it as 'back-stripe hawk moth' or 'back-muscle sphinx moth,' I chose the latter.

It happened the night before last (technically yesterday, as it was past midnight).

Just as I was about to go to bed, I heard a sound of something hitting the screen door of the Japanese-style room, accompanied by the sound of wings.

It was a soft sound.

Usually, the sound is harder. Beetles. Often, it's a Japanese green chafer.

This was a large moth.

I gently pulled back the cloth acting as a curtain in front of the screen door, and there it was.

A sphinx moth.

A yellow sphinx moth had visited before.

Has it really been six years already?

Well, it landed on the screen door, then fluttered and took off again, searching for a place to land.

It finally seemed to settle in a spot above the screen door. I couldn't see it from inside the room.

I attached the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS II lens to my OM-1 and headed out.

I set it to the telephoto end of 400mm (800mm in 35mm equivalent), but it was hard to get it in focus. It's tough. If I stay too long, the mosquitoes will bitefeast on me, and I want to take the shot quickly.

I managed to take three shots, but none of them were satisfactory.

I went back to the room and switched to the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 300mm F4.0 IS PRO.

Why can I take a larger picture with the 300mm than the 400mm?

There is only one answer. I took the picture from closer up. Also, I'm pretty sure I stopped using AF and switched to MF halfway through.

Changing the angle.

I took a few more shots after this, but none were great. Or rather, it was just difficult to photograph in general.

Is it because the shooting angle is limited with a super-telephoto lens? I decided to change lenses again. Switching to the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO.

It's so much easier to shoot.

But, it's small.

Time for the 2x digital teleconverter.

I should have just increased the image size. I usually shoot at the smallest setting of 1280x960.

A crop of a shot taken at 3200x2400.

Next, I'll take a wider shot for the header image. Switching to the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8-25mm F4.0 PRO.

At the telephoto end of 25mm (50mm in 35mm equivalent).

I also want to shoot without a flash. In that case, the lens I have with the lowest F-number is this one: the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 17mm F1.2 PRO.

Swapping lenses around like this is something I can only do at home.

Even so, sphinx moths look like fighter jets; their form is so cool.

Now, regarding this sphinx moth,

So, it is a Theretra japonica.

I was a little confused with the small elephant hawk-moth, but once I checked the features above, there is no mistake.

You can find the list of insects for the 1000-Knock Challenge to Overcome Insect Phobia below.

[Children's Insect Specialty School] - 1000-Knock Challenge to Overcome Insect Phobia