Trivia question for May-11-2011

Carter surprisingly picked a bug for his trivia despite his reservation of handling them.  Check out what he came up with:  These guys spend almost all of their brief adult lives searching for a mate.

This species is popular among amateur entomologists and is often reared from eggs or cocoons that are available from commercial sources. They are also known to fly mainly at night.  Eggs are 2 mm, colored white with extensive black and brown mottling.  Incubation lasts approximately 12 days and newly hatched larvae are red with a black abdominal saddle. Second instar larvae are all red with black heads. It is not until the third instar that larvae take on a green color. The developing larvae prefer humid conditions.

So here are Carter’s questions:  The males antennae are so sensitive he can follow the scent trail of a female for up (_____) miles away.  Also, tell us where these guys get their name from and where they can be found?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Valerie for being the first with the correct answer.  The exact species of moth we featured is the Indian Moon Moth.  The Indian Moon Moth or Indian Luna Moth is a beautiful species of moth.   This moth is quite widespread, found from India to Japan and then south into Nepal, Ceylon, Borneo, and other islands in eastern Asia. Many subspecies live in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Russia, China, Java, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Borneo and even in the United States (as mentioned by our friend Gina who has even seen them here in Atlanta).

The males antennae are so sensitive he can follow the scent trail of a female for up 5-miles away.   The Moon/Luna Moth gets its name from its eyespot wing markings, which resemble small crescent moons.   Here is more on these elegant looking invertebrates: Indian Moon Moth

Thanks for playing along 😉