The Chronicle Critters: Butterfly and Moth Edition

Welcome back to The Chronicle Critters, featuring the furry, the scaly, the feathery, and the crawly! That's right, the crawly. For the first time ever, The Chronicle Critters is featuring insects, specifically butterflies and moths.

Instead of introducing you to a bunch of different winged friends, let’s meet one person who raises both moths and butterflies. Meet Taylor Fallon, senior forensic science major. 

Fallon has always loved bugs. Even when she was a little girl, she found herself outside of the library near where she lives and plucking bugs off the railing to hold and play with.

Fallon raises both moths and butterflies that she gets from breeders. She raises them from their youngest phase of being a caterpillar all the way until either she releases them or until their demise.

The process of raising a moth or butterfly varies in length. Moths take a long time while butterflies take a shorter period of time, but both start at the same spot, as caterpillars. The trickiest part is managing food for the little ones. Scavenging is sometimes the only way to find food for them, and other times someone’s backyard will have the plant they need. They’re picky eaters and will typically only eat one type of plant their whole lives. Caterpillars are also gluttonous little bugs.

“I once gave my caterpillars three large leaves at the start of the day and by the end of the day they were all gone,” said Fallon.

A caterpillar's gluttony means that they go through phases of growing, in which they shed. For moths, this phase of being caterpillars is incredibly important because they eat all the food they can and store the energy to help them during their moth phase.

“When a caterpillar becomes a moth, they lose their mouth and digestive system, meaning they can't eat. The lifespan of a moth typically lasts one to three weeks. However, I have had one live for four weeks and that's because she was lazy,” said Fallon. “Moths essentially only exist to help pollinate but also reproduce.” 

Caterpillars have five distinct stages that are called instars. At each phase, they get to a different length and molt to their exoskeleton. The important thing to remember is that when raising two caterpillars there can't be one that is bigger than the other. So for example, if there was a second instar caterpillar and a fourth instar caterpillar in the same enclosure, it can lead to the larger caterpillar killing and eating the smaller one.

Caterpillars can be raised inside or outside. Raising them outside yields the most benefits because they are able to get used to the outdoors temperatures and weather phenomena. The best way to raise them outside is by setting up a net and setting up the enclosure on the plant they eat.

However, it is important to be wary of the fact that there are natural predators outside that can affect caterpillars as they grow. This can also be an issue indoors as other animals, specifically cats, seem to be the most interested.

“If I decide not to raise caterpillars outside, I typically take their little enclosures that I have for them inside and take them to my porch outside to help them get used to outdoor temperatures,” said Fallon.

Between butterflies and moths, moths are less picky eaters. Fun fact: in every state of the United States, there is at least one type of tree that all moth caterpillars will eat. However, moths are a little bit more complicated to raise compared to butterflies. With moths, an owner needs to be more worried about the possibilities of the caterpillars being inbred, which can lead to the moth coming out with messed up wings, being smaller in size, and having issues with their cocoon.

Let's talk about moths for a moment. Moths tend to have wings with eyes on them that are used as their natural defenses against predators in the wild. Birds have a hard time telling the difference between the eyes on the moth and the eyes on a snake.

Additionally, the patterns on a moth's wings are never exactly the same. They're a lot like a snowflake, no moth looks the same as the other.

If someone plans on raising moths, they should do their research. Some moths require permits to own and others are completely banned in areas. Some moths are invasive species and therefore that’s the reason they’re banned.

In the eastern United States, we tend to have the largest moths. The further west you go, the smaller the moths become compared to ours.

“In our area, we have the big three moths, which are Cecropia Moth, the Polyphemus Moth, and the Luna Moth,” said Fallon.

Visually, moths and butterflies look completely different but they also feel completely different. Moths are much softer than butterflies and tend to have a fuzz on them that is silky.

The way to tell a female moth apart from a male moth is by the size of certain body parts. Females tend to have a bigger butt, skinnier antennae, and bigger wings than a male.

When trying to tell the difference between a male and a female butterfly, typically wing patterns will give it away. For example, male monarch butterflies have small dots on their wings if they are a male monarch.

When handling wild moths and caterpillars, it's important to keep in mind that moths and butterflies, depending on the food they eat, can become toxic. It's also good to know that any fuzzy caterpillar is typically venomous and can cause rashes or worse.

The biggest difference between moths and butterflies isn’t just their looks, but their personalities as well. Moths are incredibly lazy and they'll just chill out for most of the day whereas butterflies are extremely active and will constantly be flapping around in their nets and driving you insane.

Fallon’s favorite butterflies to raise are monarchs, and moth-wise she loved raising a Cecropia Moth because of their unique little heads. Her favorite moth of all time is a North American Luna Moth. However, Fallon’s favorite thing about raising moths or butterflies is the caterpillar phase.

“I just love how stupid they are as caterpillars,” said Fallon. “They’re extremely funny to watch.” 

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Now that we know more about moths and butterflies, submit your own to The Chronicle Critters. 

The Chronicle Critters wants your pets! To have your pets included, contact elizabeth.may@centenaryuniversity.edu with a photo and short blurb about your animals.