May 5, 2014

• El Día de la Batalla de Puebla

  AKA:

  The Day of the Battle of Puebla

  Cinco de Mayo has its roots in the French occupation of Mexico, which took place in the aftermath of the Mexican American War , the Mexican Civil War and the Reform Wars. These wars left the Mexican Treasury nearly bankrupt. On July 17, 1861, Mexican President Benito Juarez issued a moratorium in which all foreign debt payments would be suspended for two years. In response, France, Britain and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, at the time ruled by Napoleon III, decided to use the opportunity to establish a Latin empire in Mexico that would favor French interests, the  Second Mexican Empire.

  Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat.Moving on from Veracruz towards Mexico City, the French army encountered heavy resistance from the Mexicans close to Puebla, at the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. The 8,000-strong French army attacked the much smaller and poorly equipped Mexican army of 4,500. Yet, on May 5, 1862, the Mexicans managed to decisively crush the French army, then considered "the premier army in the world"

  

  so there ya go...

  another reason to eat drink and be merry

  In other news... well.... I don't have much news but I did have a visitor at work today.

  

  This fellow was on the sign by the front door when we came in this morning.

  The Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia)

   North America's largest native moth.  It is a member of the Saturniidae family, or giant silk moths. Females with a wingspan of six inches (160 mm) or more have been documented. It is found as far west as the Rocky Mountains and north into the majority of Canadian provinces. The larvae of these moths are most commonly found on maple trees, but they have been known to feed on cherry and birch trees among many others, (the sign is redwood)

  Like all members of the Giant Silk Moth family, the nocturnal adult cecropia moths are designed only to reproduce, lacking functional mouthparts or digestive system. Therefore, they survive a maximum of about two weeks.   To find a mate, the female cecropia moth emits pheromones which the male's sensitive antennae can detect up to a mile away, although a male may fly up to 7 miles while searching for a female. Mating begins in the early morning hours and lasts until the evening. Afterward the female lays up to one hundred eggs, which hatch into tiny black caterpillars.

  

  

  She's the largest moth I've ever seen and I think she's laid some eggs on the sign...I'll keep a watch on those and see what happens, the caterpillar looks like this:

  

  I  believe if you step on or handle this caterpillar you may get a painful sting...

  now you have had your entomology lesson for today

  Have a wonderful evening.....

  OH!!!

  There's a meteor shower starting up tonight, or in the morning, the

  Eta Aquarids

  best viewing time in between 3 and dawn

  For once we have clear skies....I hope my alarm is working!

  • 5:51 pm
  • 29 Comments