Tag Archives: Moth

Winged Critters

22 Sep
Critters in the house

It’s been raining a lot these past few nights. And we’ve been getting a lot of of winged critters coming into the house. Looking for a warm shelter?

Last week, we had a dragonfly that M2 and I called a big-assed dragonfly because the wing markings made it looked big at the bottom. Bottom heavy, hence big-assed. Heheh…

Last night, it was a big moth that was unfortunately a little injured. Poor thing was flapping about near the living room sofa but ended up perched on the ceiling light tray.

I wonder what we will get next. Hmm…

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A Delightful Discovery

13 Sep

It was a typical morning getting ready to leave the house for the office. Sometimes, we would do a quick spot check for caterpillars on the lime tree closest to the car at the front of the house. On this particular morning, we discovered a beauty hiding between the branches!

My my… looking rather alien but not spooked, the moth did not even budged when we took turns to take its picture up close. Later, when we got to the office, hubby googled it up to learn that it was an Oleander Hawk Moth. What a delightul discovery!

This species is rather large, sleek and thrives in warm climates. And it loves to hide within lush green foliage which I don’t think our lime tree is that lush though. But I am not complaining for we had the chance to admire a full grown beautiful moth instead of just caterpillars all the time.

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New Pet?

21 Feb

I seem to have a new ‘pet’! It’s a caterpillar.

The inch long critter currently resides in the potted Calamansi Lime tree flanking the left side to the entrance of the house. Hubby discovered it three days ago as it was gnawing on a leaf. For all we know, it could have been there already given its size and stage of being a caterpillar.

Cute little fella. I should give it a name since I intend to keep it as a pet and chart its growth. Hmm…

Caterpillar

And because I now have a new pet to monitor, I did some research on the internet about caterpillars and found some rather interesting facts.

Apparently, moths can remember their caterpillar days, remembering things they learnt when they were at this stage even after the process of metamorphosis turning their brains and bodies to soup! How smart. So, will my caterpillar turn into a moth or butterfly, smart as it is?

The word ‘caterpillar’ refers to the larval stage of butterflies and moths. The last three days, I cannot see its antennae properly – a tell tale characteristic to know the difference, only time can tell. A butterfly’s antennae are club-shaped with a long shaft and a bulb at the end whereas a moth’s are feathery or saw-edged.

Left hanging on this, I did some further research and by now, am convinced that my caterpillar belongs to the Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus) species. Lime Butterflies tend to favor citrus plants like the Calamansi Lime, so it makes sense finding a Lime Caterpillar amongst the leaves.

We bid our time for the next stage of its transformation.

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Munching away on the leaves

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Pretty Creatures, Part 2

13 Sep

I thought the pretty bug episode would last awhile until the next pretty thing came along but I was wrong. It was a Friday night and M2 has just gotten home from her tuition class.

Puttering around downstairs to clear her staff before bedtime, a moth came around and startled her. Despite being terrified, she somehow managed to take its picture when it perched on the window! 

It’s quite large, probably palm size and sure is beautiful, terrifying or not. Her iPhone 5C was definitely able to capture the fine details. Breathtaking I would say.

So another pretty creature to add to our ever growing list of visitors.

   
 

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