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The first time I saw one of these flashy orange flies, I thought it looked like a cowboy with bow-legged back legs and fringed boots.

While the Steller’s Jay is busily exploring the oak tree canopy collecting acorns, the Black-capped Chickadee is investigating the speckled oak galls on the underside of leaves.

I love finding something that flummoxes me. So I was intrigued to spot this three- to four-millimeter long insect parading up and down grasses near the horse area at Mount Pisgah. At that small size, I couldn’t tell if it was a beetle or a bug, and at first I thought the enlarged front legs might be its antennae. 

Acorns are a sturdy nut with some gravity as they fall. As they drop through the tree, I can hear them brushing against the oak leaves.

If you spotted this insect on a blackberry leaf, as I did last week at Mount Pisgah, you would probably keep moving, and maybe even quicken your pace, to get out of the way of the yellow jacket wasp. And this particular moth would be satisfied that you did.