GodSpeed Mr. Moth

The Royal Walnut Moth (citheronia regalis), who spent yesterday in our spare bathroom drying his wings, was not at all interested in cooperating for a photo once he was done with his task. Can't say I blame him after having spent the past two years in a pupal stage. So we got a couple photos (that are not up to our usual standard ) in the house and then we took him out into the yard and where he successfully lifted off, after fluttering around my face for a few seconds as if to say goodbye. I'd like to think that he was acknowledging that I had been caring for him for the past two years.  He headed off toward Alum Creek Park (1/2 mile) where he is likely to find a mate. It was almost as if he knew exactly what direction to go. He finds a mate by the pheromones she emits. Maybe he caught a whiff. Who knows how strong their sense of smell could be.  

 5 inch wing span

 Ready to go onward

One final goodbye

Extraordinary Thursday

This morning the neighbors dogs came bounding out of their house all happy and barking and woke me up at the same time.  It was about 6 am. and I just groaned and rolled over -not wanting to face the day after a late night of movie watching.  Then DH, who had arisen to get ready for work, yelled down the hallway and told me one of my Royal Walnut moths had hatched.  Let's just say I sprang up like a rocket and got to the kitchen in .5 seconds.  For those of you who have not been following this story you can catch up on the action by reading my previous blog posts about how all this excitement began with a gift of eggs, which then hatched, and grew and ate and we photographed them and we played with them and then finally pupated all within the time span of a month and a half. What's the big deal you ask?   It's been almost two years in the making! A brief history:  The Royal Walnut moth lives for about a week and its sole purpose is to mate and for the female to lay eggs.  They don't eat or drink and after mating they die.  What good are they you ask?  They contribute to the over all species diversity of an ecosystem, are environmental indicators, and are a part of the food chain providing food for other animals such as owls and hawks.  What extraordinary about this event?  These insects have an the ability to sense extreme environmental conditions while in the pupal stage and over-winter for an additional year if necessary. Our moths are second year moths. We have been patiently waiting since August of 2011 for their arrival into this world. Remember how it was scorching hot most of last summer in Central Ohio?  This is the likely cause. This doesn't happen that often and it's even rarer that we got to witness it firsthand.  Of the 14 eggs that hatched and survived we retained 4 of them through the pupal stage.  Two of the 4 were still viable. In April I brought their aquarium (filled with an inch of dirt) into our kitchen and I have been dribbling water on them about twice a week since to simulate rain.  Two of them would wiggle when the water hit them and that is how I know they are alive. The other two did not move and weigh significantly less now than then did when they first pupated. (We recorded their weight by using a small digital scale for weighing really lite weight objects.) Their pupal cases feel empty. They have died.  The first moth to hatch was a male.  We know this because the males of most moth species have large feather like antennae. You will be able to see them on the photos below. The adult moth has about a 6 inch wing span. I am hoping to get some photos later this evening and update you all later.

 1. ex•traor•di•nar•y
/ikˈstrôrdnˌerē/
Adjective
1. Very unusual or remarkable.
2. Unusually great.


Synonyms
uncommon - unusual - singular - remarkable - exceptional