Luna Moth

When Kourt and I were at Magic Wings butterfly museum a few weeks ago we purchased a Luna Moth Cocoon. It came with instructions that read " will hatch in 6-8 weeks" Well seeing how only about 3 weeks have gone by we weren't paying too much attention to it yet. Sure enough , last night as we were sitting doing homework in the living room, Kourtney looked up and said "Mummy!!!" with eyes wide open. In the container on the television was a beautiful green winged moth. it appeared that it had hatched very recently...it's wings were still wet and crumpled. It hung from the screen roof in the container. We quickly found the instructions that came with the cocoon and read that it takes about 3 hours for its wings to dry and open. We also learned that they do not have mouths to eat or drink with. All of the nutrients that they need are stored in their bodies from when they were a caterpillar. They live to be 7-10 days old. In that time they find a mate to reproduce. It was different, and sort of humorous last night when I tucked her into bed. She wanted "Moonbeam" to sleep next to her on her nightstand, so I placed her next to her, we said our prayers and shut off the light...All of a sudden Moonbeam stared flying, frolicking everywhere!!! We looked at each other and remembered that she was nocturnal. So I brought her under a lamp to keep her "asleep" for the night. Kourtney thought that was funny. When we woke up her wings were wide open! Kourtney brought her to school to share with her class, and her teacher found out that she is actually a he, because of his fluffy antennas! Tonight we will let him go free tonight as his days are numbered. What a beautiful creature God made!