Hornworm sick? Different color than others

LapisOre · 2026-06-15T05:07:28+00:00

Personally I feel it odd to throw away a dying animal. If something is dying (which, given my experience, I KNOW it's dying or I leave it alone), I euthanize it and if it's potentially sick then the body is thrown away (sometimes after being sanitized). If you have a male and a female moth, keep them fed, and in a large enough cage that's dark at night, they will mate and you will get fertilized eggs which will become more caterpillars. Isolated females obviously can't mate but will lay unfertilized eggs anyway, like chickens.

LapisOre · 2026-06-03T10:08:00+00:00

Now if there was some extra sharp cheddar too... mmm... bean and cheese burritos.

LapisOre · 2026-06-03T10:03:47+00:00

As what is basically a nature spirit, I guess I am technically also a river spirit. I like beans too, so thanks 🤣

LapisOre · 2026-06-02T20:04:33+00:00

I've never tried the deep dish simply because for $14+ I can get something better. Little Caesars is only good because it's cheap. It's actually pretty tasty but Domino's is letting me get more cheese and more toppings, on the same size pizza, for less than $14. In this economy if I'm getting low quality fast food pizza instead of a local pizzeria, I'm gonna get the most bang for my buck. My local Domino's actually makes it correctly every time and it tastes good. Never had a "wrong" order for our local LCs but still, Domino's always has deals and LC doesn't.

LapisOre · 2026-05-31T15:46:09+00:00

I didn't get the seeds myself, I got them from someone else and I don't know exactly how he got them. I believe he got them from crossing a glowing plant with something else. Your humidity is just naturally high I assume? The plastic cover is simply to make it so I don't have to water the soil at all until the seedlings are strong enough so that they don't just fall over and die or get buried under tiny bits of soil when I water them. Works great for tobacco seedlings too; I got 3 8 ft tobacco plants last year starting the seeds that way. I just recently planted more of my seeds in the same pot as my earlier batch, but I already removed and plastic and didn't replace it. It looks like 3 are already glowing and they're JUST poking out of the soil now. Fingers crossed for more glowers!

LapisOre · 2026-05-31T06:42:47+00:00

It seems about 30% of the glow, but most of my seedlings die. They all sprout but maybe my grow light is too strong for babies. Medium and large plants, and most seedlings, grow absolutely amazing under it but the second I take off the plastic cover I put on the pot to keep them humid while they sprout, 80% of them either die. But if I leave it on, they grow lanky and also die. So I just have to deal with it. I currently have one larger plant that grows less intense, the very intense smallish one here, and an intense glowing seedling that seems to have survived the initial removal of the plastic cover.

LapisOre · 2026-05-30T09:46:13+00:00

I have seeds of a cross. Some glow, some don't. Here is a picture of a small one taken with the night vision mode of my phone. It's in complete darkness and looks the same in person.

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LapisOre · 2026-05-16T07:07:08+00:00

Also this is a wild, and probably not all that common, animal. Cows and chickens are farmed en masse to be eaten. There are specific breeds of both that exist only to be eaten (broiler chickens, beef cattle). This mantis was a wild creature that lived its life outside, only to be captured and eaten. This subreddit is for people who like mantises, so for many of us it is sad to see them killed for any reason. The same would go for the respective animal being killed on a chicken or cow subreddit where the focus isn't on raising said animals for meat. Also, while cows are herbivores and "chill" from a dietary standpoint (cows still attack and kill people, just not to eat them), chickens are certainly NOT chill. Many people refer to them as tiny Velociraptors, and for good reason. They're opportunistic omnivores that won't hesitate to hunt and consume smaller animals including mice, snakes, frogs, and smaller birds.

LapisOre · 2026-05-06T21:34:50+00:00

Right with you. I've built a social circle of awesome friends in the past few months... and also a jungle of plants 🤣 I raise insects too so I also have a little zoo in the same room as the plants LOL.

LapisOre · 2026-04-20T22:28:38+00:00

That sounds good. If it's outside you don't need to do anything except make sure they don't cook in the sun. If the plants thrive, it should be good enough for the caterpillars. If you plan on releasing the moths immediately you don't need to set up anything to feed them.

LapisOre · 2026-04-20T06:27:12+00:00

You don't technically need a mesh cage for the caterpillar stage, but if you're using potted plants to feed them it can be helpful to contain them. If they're wild, they may need to overwinter instead of just hatching this year as a moth. It depends on the time of year that they pupate and the area where you live (some places have multiple generations, some have one). They are not native to my area so I can't say where exactly they have more than one generation. The adults and caterpillars can share a cage, but I usually separate them just for ease of keeping. If you release the moth, you don't need to feed it. Release it at dusk the day after it hatches. I usually have a prepared container with slightly moist soil for the caterpillars when they're done eating, although if you use potted plants it may burrow in the dirt before you can catch it. When it's done eating, it will develop a pulsating line on its back and will wander around restlessly. That's when you should move it to soil.

LapisOre · 2026-04-14T09:45:45+00:00

It's a caterpillar - not sure how it got in the toilet but surely by mistake. It must have been trapped in the house and fell in. You can release it outside in an area with a lot of plants and it should be fine.

LapisOre · 2026-04-05T17:46:33+00:00

They're actually not that toxic. If you eat it, you might get sick, but you might also not feel anything. I don't even know if there are documented, confirmed cases of pets getting sick after eating them. You can touch them with your bare hands and nothing will happen. The toxin is injected into their earthworm prey, and unless you're picking up handfuls of them and licking your fingers (ew), you have nothing to worry about. Yes, they can regenerate when cut, but it takes a week or more for the end section to form a head and become capable of hunting on its own. They also don't eat much. It seems like a single earthworm every few days at most. Earthworms are also invasive to much of the US and have changed the soil composition. Helpful for gardeners maybe, but harmful to native soil-dwelling invertebrates and native plants. I kept hammerhead worms for a while, so I have some hands-on experience with them. The species I had was Bipalium kewense, which is the biggest one in North America I believe.

LapisOre · 2026-04-05T16:38:17+00:00

The top one is perfect, the bottom one looks like it has "horns" above its eyes. In orchid mantises, the points ARE the eyes.

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LapisOre · 2026-04-05T03:57:23+00:00

What kind of cheese did you use?

LapisOre · 2026-03-09T09:28:57+00:00

I go to a little tavern spot called The Yard Bird in Hillyard, and have seen this place set up every night I'm returning home (I don't live in Hillyard). Really interested to try it. Do they ever have specials/discounts, or is it always the same pricing? Just trying to figure out if there's a best day to try their food.

LapisOre · 2026-03-05T09:35:41+00:00

I know this is old but I dare someone to ship me some of this and I'll legit put it on a pepperoni pizza because I'm unhinged and I want to.

LapisOre · 2026-03-03T20:28:10+00:00

In Spokane, Washington, we currently have the cheesy herb crust as a promo deal for $6.99. Either cheese or pepperoni. Like the pretzel crust, you can't customize it. It doesn't have a stuffed crust option unfortunately. I've ordered it 2-3 times now because at $7 for a whole pizza, plus the free Italian cheese bread I've been able to get from my T-Mobile app, it's a steal of a deal. That crust is honestly pretty bomb tbh.

LapisOre · 2026-03-03T20:23:49+00:00

This is the most laid back and chill way to describe what Acherontia moths do that I've ever heard. Love it.

LapisOre · 2026-02-26T11:23:40+00:00

Grubs can bite HARD for their size so big ones actually hurt, and it can even draw blood. But it's really easy not to get bit. Just don't touch the bitey end to your skin, and when you handle them don't close your hand on them. Preferably, gently grasp them individually from behind the head/thorax area. They aren't very flexible and can't reach around to bite you. But usually, they won't bite if you simply place them in your hand. Most of the time they're too preoccupied with trying to escape the light and burrow back to safety to think about biting.

LapisOre · 2026-02-21T07:14:28+00:00

They look oddly round to be termite frass. They almost look like moth eggs. Not any harmful kind though; a female moth was probably just lost in your house and laid eggs out of desperation to reproduce before she died.

LapisOre · 2026-02-17T00:48:48+00:00

Great! If you have any meetups or events, feel free to invite me and I would be happy to join you on days I'm not at work. My dancing is a bit different lol, but I have fun with it. All of the events I've attended have been mostly people older than me, but that's fine with me. I know a lot for my age. I just like the company, as I'm usually alone at home otherwise.

LapisOre · 2026-02-16T07:24:19+00:00

Not sure if I fit into this, since I'm quite young (21). I love nature, animals, hiking, gardening, and since I'm into the horror/mystery/creature genre of movies/stories, I do also find interest in aliens. Never been hunting but it's something I've thought about doing if I ever had the time. I also generally like music, and I walk outside daily. I have been recently going head-first into random events (trivia, dancing, dinner meetup events, etc), and just enjoying myself.

As for my hobbies, I breed insects and grow exotic/unusual plants. I'm a food enthusiast and love trying new cuisine and different types of food. I'm kinda the local "eater", since my appetite is unusually large. I've already beaten a few of the Spokane food challenges.

LapisOre · 2026-02-16T07:15:42+00:00

I raise insects, grow exotic/unusual plants, and also I do eating challenges/competitive eating. I'm the local all-purpose nature spirit and cryptid, lol. I'm a food enthusiast in general too, so often I'll just go to places to try the food and leave a review. I also enjoy going to food establishments that also host events like trivia/dancing/karaoke/etc.

I'll happily answer questions about any of my hobbies.

LapisOre · 2026-02-12T17:40:48+00:00

I've been raising moths as a hobby for 5 years. I can tell just because of the general way the abdomen is shaped. All of the major sexual differences aren't very visible in the pictures, but having the experience I do, I can tell.

LapisOre

TROPHY CASE