Oh man how gorgeous!
I want to see a side shot! <3

Here you go!

Homg!! Sooooo pretty!!

Hidy, Fritz!

Those colours are amazing.

Upside down on what?

That loop is the handle on the lid to the mesh basket the moths rest in or on. So he was actually hanging from it, not stitting on it.

Ah, that's cute.

Looks like your avatar (minus the crown) =D

My character's species and this moth are in the same scientific family! :)

so handsome! will you be adding a new blog entry, too? (i am enjoying those immensely!) thanks again for sharing!

I will try to find time! I wanted to keep doing them daily, but they cut into my prep work a lot. So I may do one big update every few days instead if I can.

AWESOME! I look forward to it!

Beautiful!


I'm currently looking after a fine vine hawk moth caterpillar that I rescued from disaster. He's currently living happily in a cage. He's shy, but handsome.

Oh, very nice. Hope he grows up big and strong. :) Fritz is a bit shy, too.

so adorable and fuzzy...

You know, I would want to know the best way to "pet" one of these little cuties, so I could give them comfort, without potentially hurting them... I know their wings are exceedingly fragile, and I wonder if petting their fuzzy abdomen or thorax would cause them discomfort....
Honestly, physical contact is probably not something that makes a moth happy (I still remember that death's head moth going "Eeeg! EeeeeG!" indignantly when they tried to pet it)... so I would settle with putting it in an environment that makes it feel as safe and comfortable as possible.

Also... I don't think I could actively take care of moths, adorable and gentle as they are, because of their relatively short lifespans... I have a hard time getting attached to a pet, only to see it suffer in old age, and finally pass on (though its good its suffering has ended). since you would be dealing with that every few weeks... yeah, no thanks, don't wanna have perpetual hurt feels.

That said, it's wonderful that you take such good care of these beautiful, exotic creatures... I can only imagine that you show them lots of love in egg and caterpillar form as well... actually, have you done any drawings in your simplistic insect style of caterpillars or moth eggs? If not, I think you should... you can't enjoy just the prettiest part of these creatures life, if you ask me... and I think that (most) caterpillars are just as adorable, gently crawling along here and there, looking for something to nibble on...

but yeah, there's my opinion on the matter. best wishes, Queen Moth...!:D

Based on my experience, there's really no way to pet a moth that doesn't make it feel threatened. They can be okay with being "held", though, in the sense that they sit on your hand or shirt for a while - and that is enough for me.

Moths don't live very long at all, it's true, especially not giant silk moths. Unless I artificially prompt or delay their eclosure, though, they really only come out in the spring, so I have a brief period of moths being around followed by the entire rest of the year. One doesn't get as attached as with a long-term pet, but I was still sad when Terry was gone.

I haven't done any drawings of moths or butterflies in their larval stages mostly because I'm not finished mulling over what that should look like in my style. Sometimes a design comes to me, other times I work at it for a bit and then let the idea stew while I do other things. It always works out eventually.

Are these moths native to your area? Do you have to order them from a breeder?
They are so beautiful!

Luna and Cecropia moths are both native to my state and general location, but I did get mine from a breeder. The immediate area I live in is fairly developed, making it more difficult to find these moths in the wild without heading out to a forested place. Since they're native, I could release them safely if I wanted.

I agree! It's amazing to see them up close and alive.

The legs and antenna look so soft and fuzzy they look like some kind of stuffed animal rather than a real creature.

I also think I saw one of these guys cousins in the evening here, bonking against the window screen. underside coloration and antenae looked very similar but didn't get real close look as I immediately switched off the bathroom light so they'd go back to flying normally, instead of trying to get to the light. It's kinda hard to get positive ID from quick look at mostly feet and wild fluttering.

They look exactly like little pipecleaners, even up close. It's amusing.

Not sure where you are, but if it looked similar yet more reddish, it might've been a Columbia silkmoth. These guys do get around and make quite the loud BONK when they hit things!

yeah, the giant bonk bonk bonk bonk noise was large reason for immediately dimming the light. something hitting the screen with great force when you woke up to use bathroom is fairly terrifying!

i love the colors and markings of this species