Sad Underwing

What a stupid common name for Catocala maestosa. This fabulous riot of patterning isn’t sad.
Methinks the guy who came up with a lot of the common names for our moths, especially the underwings — the Girlfriend, Sweetheart, Magdalen, Once-Married, Mother, Semirelict, Darling, Bride, Tearful, Widow, Obscure, Betrothed, Penitent — had some issues, as they say.

Almost two inches long. Saw it land out of the corner of my eye on the side of a tree a squirrel had just been clambering up. Perhaps it was riled and flushed out of more secure spot by the squirrel; there was a nice hole in a rotted knot just below it. Thought for a moment it might be a cicada because of the size. I wasn’t expecting this. In fact, it’s rare for Long Island. The species seems to be expanding its territory northwards as we become more tropical. This is now the only NYC record on iNaturalist.
Look at those tufty curls…
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I’m afraid I’ve been worse-case-scenario type for a while now, so when I read “If anything, the impacts of climate change are proving to be worse than we predicted,” I feel like I’m already on that page. This from a new study on the growing layers of warm water in the oceans, which will “intensify tropical storms, disrupt fisheries, interfere with the ocean absorption of carbon and deplete oxygen.”