Perhaps not surprisingly, it is of the same species as the "first bug" of last year--a Pacific green sphinx (Arctonotus lucidis). It had a definitely greenish hue, which contrasted quite nicely with its red underwings.
Sure, there are only so many pictures you can take of a moth (even one of a definitely greenish hue) before they all start looking rather similar. I was trying to find some nice lighting that wouldn't wash out the colors but which would dispense with the need for a flash, so I brought the moth inside for a while and experimented with one of the lamps in the living room. I thought the red of my violin* might emphasize the red in the underwings, but when the two were juxtaposed, the supposed redness of the violin was much less than suspected.
*Not actually my violin; it belongs to my cousin, but he is letting me play it for a while, for which I am, and shall ever be, most grateful.
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