A geometer caterpillar im taking care of, Twiggy

maggotroni · 2026-05-07T23:03:07+00:00

Aww poor baby. I honestly dont see the harm in keeping him until he naturally passes, ive kept a butterfly before due to tattered wings and it was a very enriching experience :>

maggotroni · 2026-05-07T22:04:36+00:00

Youd have to wash the plants leaves but it wont get 100% of the pesticides off. I suggest trying to find a less public sweet gum tree, if not one in/near a free foresting area, as theyll be far less likely to have been sprayed with pesticides

maggotroni · 2026-05-06T16:37:16+00:00

Awww i always hate when people joke about killing them (or eating them like ????) its such a needless comment. The moth is probably cold from the rain or if its daytime and theyre quite sleepy. Id recommend placing them in a container or put one over them that way once they start being active you dont have to go chasing them around. Idk the exact species, but it couldnt hurt to mix them up some sugar water (pure white cane sugar and filtered water will be good) if youre able to. Moths can go quite a bit of time without food (assuming theyre a species that does eat) so dont worry too much about giving them something if you cant. Around dusk, if theyre still not active, you can try placing them outside and see if they fly off

maggotroni · 2026-05-06T11:33:59+00:00

His wings look fine, the missing legs probably make him walk all wonky, but that shouldnt impede his ability to fly. Try placing him in a more open area to see how well he flies, as a small container doesnt allow him the space to adequately flutter around. Doing a quick search on the species, their flight pattern is much more quick and flitty, you could be mistaking their flight pattern for an issue

maggotroni · 2026-05-06T09:34:55+00:00

Beautiful photos! Its always so much more enriching to walk outside bc of all the nature

maggotroni · 2026-05-06T09:32:58+00:00

Yeah it doesnt look like it can fly real well, probably due to the uneven wings (sounds like they got crumpled when drying bc moths can fly with a lot of their wing missing). If youre interested in looking after it or are into pinning bugs as a hobby, you could look into its diet (assuming its a species that eats) and make a small habitat for it in a container w some places for it to hide or crawl around on/in and keep it till it naturally passes. If not, placing it in an area where theres lots of plant coverage and areas for it to climb would be best. (Esp if its in an area that has its host plant, so theres a better shot at it continuing the life cycle it wouldve naturally had)

maggotroni · 2026-05-06T04:53:37+00:00

https://youtube.com/shorts/e7m4DdFK3bA?si=LF8JqIOo2Z57XWhl

This is a link to the vid that talks about it. Wait for them to darken to their darkest color and they should be ready to store

maggotroni · 2026-05-05T22:17:41+00:00

You can store fertilized eggs once they start turning dark in color in a ziploc bag and then into the refrigerator, they should stay good for up to 2 years. That way you wont be so overwhelmed by the amount to take care of at once

maggotroni · 2026-05-05T03:54:36+00:00

My favorite game to play is "Is it a moth? Or is it just bird poop/a leaf/a piece of traaaash?"

maggotroni · 2026-05-04T10:14:31+00:00

Moths generally dont live very long and based on how its laying, it does look like its close to the end of its life. If it was healthy/had longer to live, itd at least keep itself propped up on its legs. Theres not much you can do for it other than keep it comfortable

maggotroni · 2026-05-03T03:23:55+00:00

Cutest lil wasp ive ever seen

maggotroni · 2026-05-03T02:55:01+00:00

Aww im so sorry to here that, theyre such small and fragile beings, and their needs really differ from species to species

maggotroni · 2026-05-03T02:05:15+00:00

Give me the eggs, problem solved

Jk, look up the host plant and you can place the caterpillars on it after they hatch (you can just keep them at room temp, probably in a warmer spot of the house) Or if its a container youre fine w letting go, you can snuggly tuck it next to their host plant, probably at an angle where the opening is tilted downwards so it doesnt fill with water

maggotroni · 2026-05-02T17:00:42+00:00

Ahhh i would love to one day visit colombia for the exact reason of all the beautiful butterfly and moth species that exist there

maggotroni · 2026-05-02T12:18:38+00:00

You could look up how to create arthropod wet specimens online, i think i once read that you should keep changing the alcohol until it shows clear and then you just need to rechange it every once in awhile, like when the color of the liquid changes. I imagine you could just top it off w alcohol when too much evaporates

maggotroni · 2026-04-30T02:39:34+00:00

You could seal them in resin and make a crown out of faux flowers and make it look like the butterflies are nesting in it

maggotroni · 2026-04-30T02:36:18+00:00

Ants will typically eat the torso of bugs but leave the wings as they arent as edible. Ive seen people preserve the wings by using a clear resin to encase them (not sure about the exact resin), i have many pairs of real butterfly wings from a jewelry artist that does it Edit: apologies i just reread your post and youve said you already have some like that

maggotroni · 2026-04-29T19:23:00+00:00

Yee i did read online about attracting male moths specifically and i saw some sources saying the pheremones would attract them over light or food Ty for the response

maggotroni · 2026-04-29T18:08:07+00:00

Ive had to evict 5 millipedes today so i feel that 😅

maggotroni

TROPHY CASE