From a distance. The moth is at the edge of the woods – in the center of the photograph just below the base of the tree.
A closer view.
Much closer. It was possible to sit beside it and photograph.
A close view of the ‘eye’ on the forewing.
A side view showing the large body size. The body size was smaller and drier than the one we saw at Fishing Creek WMA.
A view from above
The antennae. This moth is a male. See the difference between antennae in males and females.
I was busy taking photographs. I was aware that the moth had moved but hadn’t seen what happened. W said, ‘It peed.’ Not exactly a scientific description but, indeed, it had expelled quite a volume of cloudy fliuid – onto a leaf where we could see the volume; I estimated that the moth had expelled about 0,5 ml of fluid. The moth voids reddish-colored, liquid meconium which is composed of the breakdown waste products of the old larval tissues. In this case, we had seen the moth expel fluid later in the process; the fluid was cloudy but no longer reddish-brown.
See more information on the life cycle of the Luna Moth here.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resources:
- BugGuide: Luna Moth (Actias luna)
Related post:
- Luna Moth (Actias luna)
5 comments:
Fantastic photos! What a find- Love the eyespots.
This seems to be the best time to photograph them - while they're completing their emergence. They don't seem to be bothered by the activity. They make wonderful models.
Big fan of these guys, love the marcos - great sighting!
Very cool! I recently discovered lepidopteran meconium myself when the monarchs our students were studying emerged from their chrysalises. Each jar had a little blob of red-brown residue on its bottom.
Neat! I was a little disappointed to find that mine should have had some pigment. But it was impressive that the volume of fluid was about a quarter of the size of the moths body.
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