# LUNA MOTH!!!



## agent A

oh yeah!! :clap: 
































i wanted to photograph him on a nice plant in front of a nice background but he had other plans &lt;_&lt; 

all egg reservations r done for the brood since they started to emerge


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## CoolMantid

Yay! gorgeous species.. How big is he?


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## mkayum

Whoa... If I let this guy go in my room... he'll be a chew toy if my cat catches him.

Nice colors on your moth!


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## agent A

female pupa i expect will eclose tomorrow:


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## CoolMantid

Yay!


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## brancsikia339

awesome!


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## agent A

video of female eclosing :clap: 

enjoy


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## Sparky

Their wings are so surreal.


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## agent A

Sparky said:


> Their wings are so surreal.


yes they r  

female didnt attract anything last night because it rained all night  

i wonder if they can be refrigerated to extend their life until this rain stops (at least it's good for the mantis religiosa and idolos)


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## agent A

Sadly the refrigerated female flew away (why is still uncertain) and I'm left with an undersized female who I hope will at least produce eggs for me, someone who really wants eggs, and the 2 peeps I'm trading eggs of mine with eggs of theirs with

I have 5 viable cocoons left and I don't know how many more females I have


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## brancsikia339

Curious, where'd u get your luna moth caterpillars?


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## agent A

got a cocoon from magic wings and she eclosed and attracted a wild male


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## agent A

ok so last night a wild male came into a female

but he was not mating with her when i woke up

he was mating with THE CAGE!!!  :lol:


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## Sparky

agent A said:


> ok so last night a wild male came into a female
> 
> but he was not mating with her when i woke up
> 
> he was mating with THE CAGE!!!  :lol:


Did you show him the right hole?


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## agent A

Sparky said:


> Did you show him the right hole?


i tried to lol


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## agent A

found some of these today :clap:


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## CoolMantid

ooh! Fuzzy!


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## brancsikia339

awesome!!!!!! I can never find them even on their fav hostplants!!!!


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> awesome!!!!!! I can never find them even on their fav hostplants!!!!


i will get some eggs out to peeps next brood, the larvae r already eating!  

another advantage of hickory  

there is so much  in the cage now even with like 14 cats :lol: :helpsmilie:


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## brancsikia339

awesome! really excited for the lunas to come  

Also, how do you find them? I've searched sweetgum (the favorite plant), hickory, walnut, and persimmon and STILL nothing


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> awesome! really excited for the lunas to come
> 
> Also, how do you find them? I've searched sweetgum (the favorite plant), hickory, walnut, and persimmon and STILL nothing


i had to buy eggs from peeps, i found they had hatched in the cage lol

the larvae in the wild live high up in trees, u will likely never find them


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## agent A

4th instar larva:


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## agent A

finally some 5th instarers!! i also have 3rd instarers :clap: 






shed skin






who doesnt love this face :wub:


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## OctoberRainne

Love these moths,really awesome


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## CoolMantid

In the last picture u can see fangs!


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## agent A

found this big cat:


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## CoolMantid

WHOA!


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## frogparty

I have sweet gum all over the place, but no lunas.....just a shitload of indian walking sticks


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## mantidsaresweet

frogparty said:


> I have sweet gum all over the place, but no lunas.....just a shitload of indian walking sticks


Do those eat sweetgum?


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## agent A

mantidsaresweet said:


> Do those eat sweetgum?


yes

sweetgum hickory walnut birch sumac and a shitload of other stuff


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## mantidsaresweet

agent A said:


> yes
> 
> sweetgum hickory walnut birch sumac and a shitload of other stuff


I was talking about the Indian Walking sticks lol. Were you?


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## agent A

mantidsaresweet said:


> I was talking about the Indian Walking sticks lol. Were you?


I wuz talkin abt lunas


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## agent A

2nd brood cats:


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## agent A

this girl unexpectedly eclosed yesterday, she is very small, i doubt she'll mate


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## fleurdejoo

Just beautiful.


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## brancsikia339

Nice! You gotta love lunas


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> Nice! You gotta love lunas


feel free to update on yours here, it's called "Luna moth" not "agent a's luna moths" so EVERYONE chip in


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## brancsikia339

Well, if you insist. My lunas are currently around 3rd or 4th instar. They're getting their colors and feeding on hickory, sumac, black walnut, and sweetgum. Some are red, and others are displaying a dark black spottage. It's really cool! Will try to upload pics later.


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## Mime454

Does anyone have a video of these guys molting? I didn't even know that catapilars did molt.


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## brancsikia339

I haven't ever seen one. You'd have to check Youtube


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## CoolMantid

I have. Its awesome. They look pale and yellow right after they shed their skin. Quite adorable if I must say.


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## agent A

3 cats make 1 cocoon


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## Mime454

You should tell them to stop. Seems unnatural.


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## mutrok4040

I think its cute. Its like they are having a sleep over or sumthin


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## agent A

mutrok4040 said:


> I think its cute. Its like they are having a sleep over or sumthin


until one ecloses before the other 2 and the fluids harm the other pupae &lt;_&lt;


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## brancsikia339

agent A said:


> until one ecloses before the other 2 and the fluids harm the other pupae &lt;_&lt;


Separate them. lol


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## mutrok4040

agent A said:


> until one ecloses before the other 2 and the fluids harm the other pupae &lt;_&lt;


Lol they r wettin the cocoon! lil babiez


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## brancsikia339

my lunas are l5


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> my lunas are l5


good! they will get giant, abt as big as your index finger, keep the food comin!!


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## lancaster1313

Has anyone read about or seen for themselves, Luna cats, that pupated together, in the wild?

It is interesting how the behaviors of captive insects will be different from live ones.

I only recently saw my first Luna. It was one of the most awesome things I have experienced.

Living in a suburban area most of my life, there weren't enough wooded spots for them to come to.

When I stayed in the mountains, we saw them regularly.

On the first time, we were trying to train my dog to find my daughter. She would go into the woods with a treat and I would command him to stay until a certain amount of time had passed. One time, my daughter came back early, but with a female Luna. I decided to let it slide and the training was done for the evening.

I was amazed when a male came for her the following night. I saw him coming from quite a distance and he actually found her in her net cage! I have seen males come to females the same way, when I placed the girls in certain trees near the home.

They have an awesome sense of smell!

If only it would work that well when I put my female Stagmomantis carolina out in a net cage. Lol!


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## CoolMantid

Agent A, do you still have some?


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## agent A

Hertarem45 said:


> Agent A, do you still have some?


They r diapausing cocoons now


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## CoolMantid

NICE!


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## brancsikia339

I have one diapausing cocoon. My cecropia hatched early yesterday!!  and i don't have a male!!!  i feel bad cuz she keeps laying eggs and none will be fertile


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> I have one diapausing cocoon. My cecropia hatched early yesterday!!  and i don't have a male!!!  i feel bad cuz she keeps laying eggs and none will be fertile


At least your sister didnt throw a juicebox on and crush a female cecropia being stored in the fridge


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## CoolMantid

My brother found the gloveri cocoons in the fridge and refused to eat from there for like a week :/


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## agent A

very depressing


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## Montana

agent A said:


> very depressing


Noooooo! That's so sad! To think that could have been a beautiful Luna moth...


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## agent A

Montana said:


> Noooooo! That's so sad! To think that could have been a beautiful Luna moth...


Me to

And a nice sized one

It was discovered the other day when its cocoon was very light and i cut it open to find the long dead and dried prepupa


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## Mantiskid

Wow, dude...those are way cool!! Now I'M jealous lol  .


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## Mantiskid

agent A said:


> At least your sister didnt throw a juicebox on and crush a female cecropia being stored in the fridge


LMAO


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## CoolMantid

My polys eclosed but the columbias havent yet. HMMMMM! How are the Lunas now? They eat ecutalyptus in California


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## agent A

Hertarem45 said:


> My polys eclosed but the columbias havent yet. HMMMMM! How are the Lunas now? They eat ecutalyptus in California


Ok before i scream  

They wont eclose until around memorial day over here

When i grow up im moving down south to like maryland where they have 3 broods and a partial 4th (though last year there was a partial 3rd here)


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## agent A

here she is! :clap:


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## sally

That is beautiful.


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## Digger

A Luna moth arrived in my backyard about 5 days ago. It's stayed in the same spot on a wall. Took some photos this morning and will post them tomorrow. I've never seen one live, although I understand they are not rare.


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## brancsikia339

They're pretty hard to find by me, i dunno why. I'm gonna try to raise some this year


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## agent A

brancsikia339 said:


> They're pretty hard to find by me, i dunno why. I'm gonna try to raise some this year


some special ed teacher lady at my school caught a luna female and got her to lay eggs, but then left the container out in the rain

I told her she was about as smart as the kids she teaches and she got pretty mad at me :blush:


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## agent A

few more shots of my gal


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## agent A

She is now mating :clap:


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## brancsikia339

:clap: :clap: :clap:


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## agent A

They finished and i put her in a bag in my closet and shes already laying :clap:


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## brancsikia339

AWESOME!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:


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## sally

Great!


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## Digger

Most excellent !!


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## Digger

mutrok4040 said:


> I think its cute. Its like they are having a sleep over or sumthin


LOL :clown:


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## agent A

this is the wild male from the other day:































he looks related to the father of the disaster brood 2 years ago (they could be cousins, and the disaster was environmental not genetic)


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## fleurdejoo

So gorgeous!


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## agent A

ok so a few years ago I snapped these shots of a male luna from the magic wings stock











this is my current male from that stock





















this is the female, from Katelyn mayos stock





















I like mayo stock for the size and magic wings for the color

I hope they can pair up tonight


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## sally

beautiful!


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## agent A

the female is laying but idk if they r fertile


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## agent A

a few more pics


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## agent A

got some hatchlings! :clap: 





















and a pic of an adult male


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## fleurdejoo

So exciting!!!!


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