The Luna Moth Chronicles, Chapter 2

Here are the babies on day 2. They doubled in size within 24 hours!

Somewhere between day 2 and day 3 they molted (shed their skins). They have now entered their 2nd Instar phase. I caught the runt of the litter eating the last remains of his former skin, which is apparently normal. Nutritious, I suppose!

The Luna Moth Chronicles

A continuation of the last post...
We had a Luna moth visit a few weeks ago. While she was here she laid some eggs which I gathered before the beetles ate them.

So now, what to do with the eggs? I researched the internet and came up with a very exhaustive set of instructions by Bill Oehlke. I kept the eggs in a jar with the lid screwed on tight, as he directed. Within 8 days all five of the eggs hatched!

Here are the new larvae, moments after hatching from their eggs! One is already crawling around. The other four are still struggling out of their shells.

We moved the larvae into a slightly larger plastic container with a lid. No air holes, per Bill! Then we collected some sweet gum leaves and after drying them off and letting them reach room temperature, we placed them into the container.

Two of the larvae don't seem interested in eating today, but the other three have begun chowing down. Hopefully the other two will come to their senses.

Besides the sweet gum, they also will eat leaves from nut trees and sumac. I hunted around for some alternate leaves for them in case they're being picky eaters, but didn't find anything but poison oak, and I'm not about to collect that!!

Stay tuned to see if I manage to keep these guys alive! Here's keeping my fingers crossed.

Luna Moth

Each morning I check on "my" preying mantis and this particular morning got a surprise! As I walked by with a casual glance I had to stop and do a double take. I almost dropped my cereal in the floor! A luna moth!

I grabbed my camera and got these shots. What a gorgeous insect!

Here she is in her glory...a full 4 inches! It looks like she's not quite 4" but it was a bad angle. And a bad photo...blurry...sorry!

She stayed for three days. Day two she laid these eggs (dark clustered spot under the left side of her wing). That night the beetles ate them. :(

Day three she laid some more, stayed a few hours and then left. I ran outside and gathered them before the beetles could eat this batch. Now what the heck am I going to do with luna moth eggs?? I suppose I'm going to have to learn! 

I found this webpage which seems to be a wealth of information on hatching luna moth eggs, so I guess I'll give it a try. I have sweet gum trees (seen in the background of the photo) for them to feed on once they hatch. Wish me luck!

The Preying Mantis Saga

Headline: Giant Preying Mantis attacks house!!

I couldn't resist this shot! :D

This female mantis has been residing on our porch for about a month now. When I first noticed her, she was on the inside of the screen.

After several nights of watching her wear herself out attacking bugs on the opposite side of the screen who were flying around the floodlight, I took pity on her and moved her to the outside of the screen. She was not happy with me but seemed to get the idea after I shoo'ed her up toward the floodlight. Since then it has been feasting and festivities for her.

The day I moved her, a male mantis came along and they got happy together. That is, until she was finished with him. Then she ate him. What a sad ending!

Then we had another visitor arrive...a luna moth (which will be another post). She and the luna got friendly and hung out together. I suppose she thought of the luna as camouflage.

Yet another arrival...a baby lizard approaches on the far left side! What a shot, three in one!

Today the mantis left, I'm assuming to go lay her eggs. It was sad to see her go but duty calls. Maybe her offspring will visit me next year.