The Cycles of Moths

Bramblings
Becky Nelson
I have always been intrigued by caterpillars, moths and butterflies. The transitions of egg to caterpillar to cocooned transitioning insect to moth or butterfly absolutely amazes me. When I was a kid, I had a very formal moth and butterfly collection and was one of those geeky kids who spent hours with butterfly nets and jars and pins and boards, and cotton filled mounting boxes to display my specimens. When I think back, it was kind of gruesome work, but the thrill of finding a new insect to add to the collection was a thrill.

As I aged, I found it more of a thrill to watch the beautiful creatures in the wild without killing them. Back in the day, I had only an old hand-me-down Brownie camera, and to snap a photo, fill the roll of film with photos, take it out of the camera, send the roll out to be processed and wait a couple of weeks for the photos to come back (usually blurry from handshake or being too close to the object) was not a viable option for my endeavors. Nowadays, with a cell phone with a built-in camera better than most I have ever used, it is easy to snap a shot and enjoy it immediately, leaving the bugs alive and crawling and the flowers unpicked and left for others to enjoy.

Technological advantages have their perks, and the insect population probably is glad that fewer kids are swinging bug nets and pinning their fragile bodies to a drying board. As I said, gruesome hobby.

This year, I have had the pleasure of finding several Luna moths. All have been hanging around at my store…some on the side of the building, some in the flowers at the front, some just in the grass. It is fairly rare to see a Luna moth, as they blend into their surroundings so well and have a lifespan in moth form of about a week. Most of their time is spent as an unassuming caterpillar, munching away on black walnut and white birch leaves. I have never found a Luna cocoon but am always thrilled to see the moths. The moths have a single function which is to reproduce. They have no mouth and no digestive tract…they are built only to attract other Lunas to make little Lunas. Though I guess they do have a couple more functions as a food source for bats and as beautiful decorations for the rest of us.

The complexity of their life cycle, like the complexity of our own, is a never-ending source of amazement for me. All the little parts and pieces have to work just right in order for the Luna to find a mate, lay an egg, the egg to hatch, the caterpillar to stay safe from birds and other predators to maturity, the cocoon to be built and unharmed long enough for the caterpillar to transition, and then the beautiful moth to emerge to start the cycle all over again.

All of the life cycles around the farm amaze me. From seed to squash, from calf to cow, and all the wild critters as well. We have seen several fawns around the farm with their Mums…. And the weather cycles are amazing as well, with wind patterns shifting and rain falling and clouds blowing. We live in an amazing world with amazing things around us that we take for granted every day. Every once in a while, we will catch a glimpse of something amazing and those little feelings of amazement may be tickled as we contemplate the complex workings of the ants at our feet or the heart beating in our chest. Don’t forget to take a moment each day to slow down, gaze at the sky, gaze at your feet, gaze out the window or even look at your own hands and enjoy the beauty, the power and the amazing majesty of the cycles and complexities all around us.

Becky Nelson is owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, eighth generation in a multi-generational farm that was established in 1780. She can be reached at [email protected].