One summer in Kentucky, in the middle of farms and woodlands, I saw a bunch of different giant moths: Lunas, Cecropias, Ios, Polyphemous, and a few others. Tons of different butterflies, too. And green preying mantises easily seven or so inches long.
When I was growing up, we lived in a huge garden-apartment complex where the buildings surrounded enormous grassy courtyards. (It had originally been a big farm, and lots of fruit, nut and flowering things had been left.)
One summer, for some reason, nobody ever mowed. Everything got 2 to 3 feet high, and I’ve never seen so many butterflies in my life. I always remember it as weird and magical, and wished later that they’d just always leave it like that...