Weekly Update: Gerald2, idiot longhorn beetle, and beautiful Saturniidae moth.

Greetings,

     Last week, I was grieved to convey to you the death of my beloved Gerald.

     This week, I am pleased to the announce the arrival of Gerald2! 

     What's great about Gerald2 is that, unlike Gerald, he's actually a male! The tale of his acquiring is worth telling.

     I was returning from a trip to Memphis, TN, when I received a picture captioned "wish you were here" from my Aunt. It was a male Megaphasma denticrus hanging out on the ceiling of her porch. I eagerly implored her to capture it for me, to which she responded "ask your uncle." I did, but he had only a little time left of his lunch break, so I also called my brother to  help. My cousin dutifully retrieved him, but the battle for Gerald's replacement wasn't over yet. Gerald2 was much feistier than his namesake, and his rather impressive spurs (Fig. 1) and menacing cerci (Fig. 2) drastically reduced the eagerness of my family members to touch him. Sensing that he was in danger, Gerald2 made a dash for the roof, and as my uncle courageously reached up for him, Gerald2 lost his footing and fell on my uncle's shirt. After being knocked to the ground, he still refused to cooperate. Apparently, being stuffed in a plastic bag and being transported via automobile to my house was not his idea of a good time. He took up residence in Gerald's empty cage, and has been entertaining our family since with his sporadic behavior and noisy eating. 

Fig. 1: Painful spurs that could probably draw blood.

Fig. 2: Scary-looking cerci that actually probably
couldn't even dent a wet paper sack.

     I found a large wood-boring beetle at my church's camp grounds (below), and picked it up to show to the children who were running around. They were all very interested and wanted to find their own beetles to keep as pets.

 
     But then, as I was doing the brainless bug a service by moving it out of the way of running feet, the thing bit me! It hurt, and even drew a little blood!

     I had always figured longhorn beetles could bite, but in the past I had goaded smaller specimens to bite me, but with no success. They aren't supposed to be aggressive by nature. Apparently, this guy didn't read the longhorn beetle guidebook. A good look at its wood-shredding jaws shows you how much it could hurt.

    Despite the tremendous pain the bug needlessly afflicted on me, we soon became the best of friends. Like a loyal dog rejoicing at the sight of its returning master, the beetle practically killed itself with excitement every time it saw me through its glass cage (below).

"I'm so very glad you're home!"

      He definitely wasn't trying to get out.

      As for me, I played the role of master very well, providing my dearest pet with an abundance of C₄H₈0₂, an airtight container (to prevent mold), and tissue to keep it from destroying itself as the sweet fragrance of ethyl acetate lulled it to sleep. Permanently.

      It made a fine addition to my collection. 

     The Gerald2 episode was practically repeated on the Friday the 13th. My family was returning from a trip when my Aunt texted me a photo of a beautiful Saturniidae moth, and we veered off toward her abode.

     It turns out to be the Polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus, which I recognized from the 

cover photo of James Castner's Photographic Atlas of Entomology. It is by far the largest moth in my collection—its wings don't even fit on the pinning board—and it is my second largest insect. First place goes to Gerald, obviously.

     Spiky finally decided to pupate. In a few weeks, I will have a beautiful Io Moth, which, although smaller than A. polyphemus, is almost as beautiful.

     Just as I was about to publish this post, my Aunt walked in holding a discarded coffee can with yet another contribution to the naturalist cause. She and her family were unsure of its identity, but knew I would be interested (and were correct): here it is.

    A bagworm moth larva! At first, I erroneously informed my Aunt that it was a larva of some sort, but not a butterfly or moth. I suppose I was thinking of a caddisfly larva, which builds similar structures; however, caddisfly larvae live underwater. If it is a caddisfly larva, then, well, it's probably stone dead by now. Hopefully I will be able to raise it to adulthood (although I've read that adult bagworm moths are ridiculously difficult to identify).

     And that's about it! Yoda is eating well, Sticky is resting peacefully, the idiot longhorn beetle is resting even more peacefully—in other words, all is well in my life. 

Farewell!