Hornworm moth
I always liked bugs … except grasshoppers. I do not know why, those give me the creeps. Also bugs in my hair is a big NO - NO.
I haven’t picked these in a loooong time. When I was a kid I used to keep a small terrarium just for observing all sorts of bugs. Moths were my favorite.
There is not many large moths in my area … so of course the sweet potato hornworm is very dear to me. It also has my favorite combination of colors … gray and pink. So it should not be such a surprise I even fancied myself getting a tattoo of it (but never went through).
The caterpillar mostly feeds of the leaf of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, etc. Here they don’t represent a serious threat to the veggies … so I can’t say I personally place them in the pest department.
Life cycle:
I found two pupas while picking potatoes the other day. I kept them in a jar with some moist sand (it is white only for the contrast purpose). Why moist? Pupas are usually burrowed in the soil …not enough moist might result in undeveloped wings. After 5 days the first one hatched. I missed it for a few minutes it seems. I knew I should have paid more attention to my cats. They kept trying to tell me something is going on (and probably wondering if I would share my loot).
The pictures are not the best. It was night time and I could not have this photo session around my cats so I had to go out on the driveway.
I left it on a higher ground since there is plenty of predators on the ground at night time. There it will dry and unfold its wings. I find them gorgeous.
Sadly I don’t think the other one will hatch.
The pupas butt moves when you touch it (yes it wiggles). This one doesn’t. I will give it a few more days in hopes I am wrong.
Great post! The awww animals like it ;-)
As a reward you get an awww picture:
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awwwwww a puppy...something to feed my cats with! :3
What wee noooo kill it with fire!
FLAG FLAG FLAG!
no no no no...cmon @apsu look at it....such big eyes it has <3 so cute <3
The eyes are one of the reasons I need fire ;)
Fascinating, beautiful creature. The moth is cool too. ;)
It's interesting you favor two colors, pink and grey. For me it's always been red and black which are present in everything I build. I have never raised moths but did raise mantises for a while, and got a rude awakening one day when the egg case hatched unexpectedly soon. I arrived home to find the walls of my room coated in baby mantises. >:0
Awww ty. :)
I guess I could say red and black combo come off as agressive to me. Or maybe not agressive, but solid. Like a statement that can't be moved. Kinda like: here I am, watch me! :) While gray and pink could be considered as shades of black and red they have the opposite effect for me. Soft and cute (wishy washy). :D
The most "exotic" thing i had under my roof was prolly the golitah birdeater. Even me - knowing how nature works....I had a super hard time feeding him mice. I like mice too...was a lesson learned.
Those moths are so cool! Thanks for teaching me about them as well. Do they make abuzz noise with their wings that would freak me out if they started flying around my head?
...their noise is not annoying but more of a very low humming sound. I can't really say it is subtle but in an odd way it is relaxing. Tho when it comes to my hair and getting something tangled in there...all bets are off. I hate it when something lands without a landing permit. No fear tho...these only come out in the night time and chances to run into one are super slim.