#raising bugs

10 day old polyphemus moth caterpillars

but one day a carpenter bee i was trying to save (i was trying to pick him up with a leaf to give him some honey-water, his wings were damaged) stung my hand and something changed. it was my first sting. i don't know if that's the exact day but gradually i developed this deep fear. if a bug lands on me or touches me, my blood still runs cold. i still scream or have to fight the urge to scream.

in my mind it's very silly -- i've been through some of the worst nightmares i could even conjure up, yet a small bug (besides butterflies) terrifies me so much.

i started raising butterflies at home when i found so many caterpillars in my garden. i learned that few caterpillars survive in the wild so i decided to learn all about what they need to thrive. i set up butterfly stations and planted a lot of milkweed. soon i was around bugs very often.

a few years later, i took in a leopard gecko that was rescued from a bad home. she was actually rehomed twice, once from a hoarder prior. i learned that she needed an array of bugs so i started raising my own.

then i took in another spider -- a jumping spider -- and she just loves the bugs, too.

i've always loved spiders. and i've always appreciated them for killing bugs.

My moth babies for the 2016 flight! Two are lunas, two are polyphemus this time! We have Blondie, Tiny, The Normal One, and Wow that’s Definitely a Male. (They will get real, respectable names when they eclose like the generations before them.)

Look how tiny Tiny is. I’m rather baffled; I’ve never seen one that small. But they’re all a healthy weight and wiggly, so... I’m assuming all is well until proven otherwise!

As a thank you for your patience and attention during this weekend with all my sales & shop posts, here’s a clip I dug out of my vault of one of my cecropias from this past spring. His name was Cosmos. Here he demonstrates two behaviors moth-rearing hobbyists are likely to encounter.

First, he flares his wings. Moths will do this when they feel disturbed and may dip and raise their wings again a few times repeatedly. They may even do this from their enclosure when you walk by! Afterward, you can see Cosmos change posture; he raises the front of his body and lowers his wings to begin vibrating them. Large moths vibrate their wings to get them warm enough to fly.

Yes, I raise moths! The moth in the gifs there wasn’t mine, but I had three lovelies last season:

It’s mostly a hobby for me, though since I do a lot of art of insects, there is also a research element to it. Moths don’t really act like a traditional “pet,” and I don’t quite consider them my pets so much as creatures briefly under my care. Their adult lives tend to be 5-7 days. They’re super cute and can be handled, if you’re careful and gentle and do it on their terms, but they don’t appreciate being petted and don’t really do a lot - the species I raise don’t even eat.

Well, if you intend on raising it, be aware that wooly bears overwinter as caterpillars. If it's cold where you are, it's best to either keep it outside in a safe place (like a shed) or in your fridge (not freezer!) until spring rolls around. When it warms up outside again, the caterpillar's going to need food until it's ready to pupate. They eat a lot of things! Host plants include birch and maple; they can also munch on dandelions, clover, even grass. Put some sticks in the container, too. Clean out their poop regularly. Once they pupate, you should see the adult emerge in 2-3 weeks. Make sure the cocoon is left in a place with plenty of room for the adult to climb out and spread its wings, or it will be deformed and unable to fly. There's more information on how to raise them elsewhere online if you'd like more detail!

I did a little more research on him and came to believe he’s a Virginian tiger moth!! I got really excited and decided to take him in, and put it into a little habitat for him.

Some sticks, a paper towel lining the bottom and a bunch of different types of leaves for him to eat. 

He’s already ate a bunch of them and seems to be pretty happy. Is there anything else I should do for him? I know once he gets into his cocoon I have to put him outside in the cold so he doesn’t emerge too early. 

Yay for taking care of caterpillars! It's good that you're trying to provide enough for him to eat - pay attention to what he does eat and offer more of that. Since you found him on raspberry, that's a good one to stick with if possible (and since you're feeding him now you can control how much and from which parts of the plant he eats). Throw out anything he hasn't eaten and make sure to clear the container of his frass (poop) a few times a day. It may be easier to do this with a larger, rectangular container that you can just dump out after removing him for a moment.

I haven't raised this exact kind of caterpillar, so from looking at it, I'm not sure which instar it is in. He may still need to molt. If he stops eating and moving for a bit, don't touch him - that means he will molt, and moving him during that time can result in him not molting properly (can be fatal).

Virginia tiger moths and similar species usually hibernate as larvae and then pupate and eclose in spring. Depending on how fall temperatures are where you live, he may emerge this season if allowed to pupate now. You can keep him outside in a sheltered container if it gets cool so he'll hibernate in any leaves or material you provide, or you can induce hibernation by putting him in your refrigerator (not freezer! that will kill him). If you do the fridge, make sure not to take him out until host plants are available again in the spring, because he will very likely need to eat more before pupating.