The Luna Moth Chronicles: The Final Chapter

Our last cocoon hatched early, despite my hopes for it to overwinter. This time, however, I was ready!

This is Clover, who is a male Luna moth. He emerged from his cocoon after being in the pupal stage for 7 weeks. We had warm weather at the time and I wonder if he emerged too early?

Sadly, Clover's wings were deformed. The lower wings were nothing but little grey stubs, and his upper wings never fully expanded. His sister, who emerged a week ago had fully developed wings. Clover had a little spell during his 4th instar where he got sick and we thought we might lose him...I wonder if that affected his wing development?

Isn't he sweet? Okay, maybe a face only a mother could love!

Clover, crawling on my son's hand. Clover had a weird "bubble" on his wing (on the right), which burst and sprayed green blood (?) on the floor. He didn't seem to be bothered by that incident and kept right on crawling.

We had to keep him indoors since the weather turned cold again. I kept him in the bathroom with the door shut, trying to keep the humidity levels higher for him. The dry heat in the house caused his sister Corvella to dry out.

Back view

Clover was with us for 6 days. The lifespan of an adult Luna moth is a week, so even with his deformities he lived a full life! Note the difference in his wide, feathery antennae from his sister, Corvella's, which were much narrower.

Front (belly) view

Clover was buried under a rock, next to Corvella, and his other caterpillar siblings.

It's hard to believe my Luna Moth Chronicles are over after three months of caring for these guys. It was an awesome experience to watch the life cycle of this gorgeous creature, from egg to adult moth. I'm saddened by the thought that they didn't get to fly off and mate to complete their life cycle.

Considering they would have never hatched from their eggs if I hadn't rescued them from the beetles I suppose they had a good life, filled with yummy sweet gum leaves and sticks to climb!

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Hope

We have one pupa left, Clover. Over the last two weeks I have been concerned that Clover may be dead. I could not get him to respond despite my prodding. The pupal case has darkened, become dull instead of glossy, and isn't as firm as it once was. It would even leave indentations where I touched it.

Clover's back

As I debated whether to bury him alongside of Corvella, I miraculously discovered he is alive after all! He suddenly began moving again. 

Clover's underside (belly)

You can clearly see his wings through the case, which has become paper thin. Look in the broad, lighter colored area between the white marks and his face (on the right end of the case). There is a stripe running width-wise.

My fear is that Clover will hatch early also, like Corvella. Today I lined the bird cage with fine mesh screening and removed the lid to his container. I placed branches in the cage for him to hang from to dry his wings. I am prepared now, thanks to the tragedy. 

I am super paranoid now and check the cage constantly. Hopefully I won't have anything to report until spring. If he's going to emerge, it will happen soon since Clover pupated a day after Corvella. It seems they're on the same schedule, but I really really really hope not in this instance. Wish Clover luck!

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Sadness

As some of you may know from reading my previous entries, I have been documenting my experiences raising a small batch of luna moths. We started with 5 eggs which all hatched, lost 3 caterpillars at different intervals throughout the process, and as of Thanksgiving were down to 2 caterpillars which successfully pupated.

It had been 6 1/2 weeks since they cocooned and I was expecting them to overwinter, however, Saturday morning I found a terrible mess inside one of the containers.

Corvella hatched, which should have been a joyous occasion, but since she was 5 months early and inside a closed container it was a disaster.

Corvella's empty casing

It was very sad to see the destruction within the container. She tore her wings up struggling to get out, and since she could not hang to dry her wings, they dried crumpled.

I was informed my pupae were male, but as it turns out at least one is female. Her antennae are narrow, unlike a male's antennae which are wide. She even laid 3 unfertilized eggs!

We were planning to build a box for the pupae but thought we had time. One of the websites I was referring to said the pupae should hatch within 2-3 weeks; otherwise they would overwinter. Obviously that was not the case. :(

So that leaves me to wonder two scenarios:

1) Did Corvella hatch early? We had warm weather during the past several days prior to her emergence. Did that cue her that it was "spring" and time to hatch?

2) Alternatively, perhaps she never intended to overwinter. We had very warm weather (80 degrees F) during her 4th and 5th instars. I was very careful to limit her exposure to daylight, covering her container in the evenings. The length of the day is supposed to be what causes the caterpillars to produce the hormone which triggers them to overwinter, but I wonder if temperature plays a part also?

Corvella lived for 3 days, passing on to the heavenly realms early this morning. My 5 year old cried when she hatched because he realized the gravity of the situation, but did not cry at our burial proceedings. He seems to have worked through his grief.

I am saddened and a bit frustrated. All that hard work of caring for those caterpillars...

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 27

It is with great sadness I report that our last caterpillar, Nenington has died.

As you can see from the photo he has taken on a yellowish pallor and there is a brownish color creeping toward his head from the back end. He is dehydrated from not eating and has shrunk in size. I misted him throughout the day hoping that would help but it was too late for him. :(

I have no idea what may have caused his demise. Any experts out there have an opinion? Aside from the tiny granules of excrement on Day 23, he had no other symptoms. He was thriving and we expected him to cocoon any day. Then suddenly he became lethargic and stopped eating. He was given the same food as the other caterpillars, and after losing caterpillar #4, I was sure to wash all the leaves and branches under running water.

He may have continued to decline and suffer past today, Day 27, but with great trepidation I decided to euthanize him.

I read of a couple different methods, 1) freezing him in a plastic baggie, and 2) gassing him with acetone (nail polish remover soaked on a cotton ball and placed in a sealed container with the caterpillar).

I didn't feel confident that freezing him would completely do him in, and besides, I despise the cold! I just couldn't do that to him. I would have gassed him, but didn't have any acetone. As luck would have it, my nail polish remover is NON acetone! I'm sure my husband had something in the garage, but it looks like a tornado went through there and he can't find anything out there, so scratch that idea.

I certainly couldn't bring myself to step on him! Besides, I had to have an intact body to present to my 5 year old for burial proceedings. (Plus, you're not supposed to do that if they're diseased because you could spread it too easily.)

So...the only other thing I could think of was drowning him. He seemed so weak I thought it would be a quick ordeal. Not so. I do not recommend this method, especially for a caterpillar with a bit more life left in him than Nenington. There was a small struggle which nearly broke my heart! I bawled my head off, which I know is stupid--I mean, how many bugs have I heartlessly and without remorse stepped on and swatted in my lifetime?!

He went limp and sunk after the brief struggle. After 10 minutes of being submerged I could still detect a heartbeat, so I submerged him again. You can actually see their heartbeat through their backs. See this quick little :28 second video  of a caterpillar pupating on youtube to see firsthand.

I was terrified my 5 year old would catch me drowning the caterpillar, so I hid him under a floating soapdish, which also helped me distance myself from the situation so I wouldn't have to stand there and agonize over being a caterpillar murderer.

45 minutes later he STILL had a weak heartbeat...ARRGH!!!...the agony!

I came back after 1 1/2 hours and finally, there was no detectable heartbeat. I patted him dry and laid him back in his container and my little boy was none the wiser that his mother was capable of this dastardly deed!

After dinner we buried him under a rock near caterpillar #4, who died a few weeks ago. And thus ends my story of poor little Nenington. Now we just have 2 cocoons to report on periodically.

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 24

The next to cocoon is...

 Clover!

Corvella's cocoon thickened and darkened overnight. Now it looks more sturdy.

I'm worried about Nenington, caterpillar #3. He stopped eating today and is just sitting on a stick. I am hopeful that he is planning to cocoon shortly, but something doesn't seem right. His excrement from last night looked really dry and grainy, instead of the usual spherical moist balls you've seen in the photos from previous updates.

Corvella and Clover will spend the night in a container with the lid slightly cracked, sitting in the open windowsill so they can begin acclimating to the cooler temperatures.

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 23

We have a COCOON!

Corvella is the first to cocoon

Now what the heck am I supposed to do with it??? :P

This calls for some fresh research. I found this site which is quite comprehensive regarding the care of not only the cocoons, but the development of these caterpillars.

What to expect...

Sorry, this is a bit gross! The caterpillars clear their guts right before cocooning. If you see this, and your caterpillars are in their last instar, you'll know a cocoon is in their near future! Corvella is cocooned under a leaf on the far left side of the container.

Business as usual for Clover, chowing down and pooping!

Nenington, scrunched up, probably in fear

of the five giant "caterpillars" staring him down!

When you disturb the caterpillars, they tuck their heads under. His full length is much more impressive when he's stretched out comfortably.

Stay tuned to find out which of the two remaining 'pillars cocoons next!

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 20

Wow, it's been 20 days and I've managed to keep these caterpillars alive!
Kudos to me, heh heh!

"Clover"

"Corvella"

"Nenington"

Nothing much to report. They are eating up a storm, especially at night. A word to the wise...once they start getting large like this be sure to stock them with enough leaves to last through the night, unless you plan to get up periodically and check on them! Four large leaves seem to be about the right amount for mine, and they also like climbing so be sure to include the branch too.

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 17

Day 17: Growing! They are closing in on 2". In fact, they may well be 2" long but they rarely stretch out their full length. When disturbed they tuck their heads under and scrunch up so it's hard to get an accurate measurement.

"Corvella"

We gave them branches in their containers and they seem to really enjoy clinging to them.

"Clover" 

You can see how his skin looks stretched tight, especially near the back end, like he's about to burst at the seams! Surely he's going to molt soon.

"Nenington"

Now is a crucial period for the larvae regarding lighting. They are light sensitive and take their cues from the length of daylight hours. I need these guys to produce the hormone that makes them overwinter in their cocoons, otherwise I'll have Luna Moths flying around the house! And if they mate and lay eggs I will have no food for the hatchlings since it will be late autumn. So I'm being careful to cover their containers with a towel to be sure they get no more than 14 hours of light each day. 

Listen to me, ha ha! I sound like I know what I'm talking about! (I knew nothing about this a month ago!)

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 14

The Luna moth larvae are now in their 4th Instar. The two largest caterpillars molted overnight on Day 14. I found this discarded skin and a little "skull cap" from the caterpillar's face in the container. Sometimes they eat their molted skin but this time Corvella did not. Clover ate her skin but not the little cap. (Sounds gross!)

The caterpillars spin a bit of silk to anchor themselves prior to molting. You can see the silk threads in this photo, attaching the skin to the leaf. I took the picture on my journal page where I make notes about their progress.

Nenington, the runt of the litter, was preparing to molt on day 14. He seems to be one day behind the others.

Since the death of caterpillar #4 I've been paranoid about sickness among the remaining caterpillars. When they stopped eating I thought surely I was going to lose the rest of them, but it turns out they do this when they get ready to molt. I never observed this before because they were all together in one container. One out of the four was always eating and pooping so I assumed it was coming from all four. I wish I'd separated them sooner, it's been very enlightening!

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 12

I have a sad tragedy to report. Luna larvae #4 died on day 11. I have no idea what happened to cause his demise. I found him that morning in a pool of fluids. I removed all the caterpillars to individual containers in case it was catching. So far the remaining three are doing well. 

Here is Corvella, the largest of the three.

My son decided to name them now that they're in separate containers and we can tell them apart. Don't ask me where he got these names from!

This is Nenington, the smallest of the bunch

Here is Clover.

Clover has a bit of silk hanging off his backside. He is preparing to molt again.

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 10

The larvae enjoyed a weekend at Grandma's while we were out of town. Grandma managed to not kill any of them and they continue to thrive!

The larvae are now in their 3rd Instar, having molted again on day 9.

The Luna moth larvae are close to an inch long now. Their ...uh... excrement is getting larger too. It used to look like ground black pepper. Now it looks more like small peppercorns!

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Day 5

Here they are growing bigger! This is day 5 and they are about 1/2" long.

One is going off to explore.

One large leaf will last the four caterpillars at least 24 hours.

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.