Hercules Moths – 7 of them all emerged in the last coupled of days. This is a good indication that we are probably in for some rain, as the moths and butterflies often link their emergence from the chrysalis stage to coincide with low pressure systems. The extra rain means plants send out tender young leaves which are perfect for the caterpillars to eat.
I went down to the lab today to take some photos….
Here they all are - you can see the two on the left and on the bottom row have already gotten down to business.
Here’s a closer shot of the two Hercules moths that are mating today.
Hercules moths have such extremely fat bodies because that is all the sustenance that they are going to get. Having neither a mouth nor a stomach, they do all their eating as caterpillars and live off the reserves for the 5 to 10 days that they are in the moth stage.
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