First WC Moth!

[UrbanChameleon]

Hey guys!

I was just sitting on my back porch, watching the storm and reading the forums on my phone. I saw something fly past my head and turned around. I noticed it was a moth and ran back inside to get a deli cup. I just brought it in and put it in an old cricket keeper. My first wild caught! Yay for me!

Anyways.. I'm not sure what kind of moth it is, or if it's safe. This is where you guys come in. Help a girl out.

I've never fed my Panther a wild caught insect before. I'm going to keep it for a few hours/overnight to make sure it's pesticide free. It is bigger than I would like, but Loki should handle it fine. He's never had a flying insect before, so it should really entice him!

I wanted to come here first and make sure it would be safe to feed. So let me know what you all think.

 

[carol5208]

yes, safe but what I have learned not that nutritional. But your cham will probably love it cause it flies!

 

[Swayne8998]

Looks like some of the miller's we get over here Except we get a lot bigger... I would go with what Carol said, great treat for your buddy!

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Yay!! I'm so excited!

I live in KY which is FULL of insects. Sadly, I have no equipment to catch them with. Plus, the only ones that tend to find me are toxic or spiders (which I hate). My best friend has a legit fear of moths and butterflies. So she's no help.

I'd love to be able to catch hoppers and what not. The only insect catching equipment I've seen is the cheap stuff marketed towards kids. Do any chains (such as walmart) sell nets or anything I could use for this purpose?

 

[UrbanChameleon]

I've been searching and searching for the moth online. I'm just curious as to which species it is, and if it's male or female.

I can't find anything.

I live in north eastern Kentucky and checked the University of KY Entomology website. Maybe I'm just brain dead from looking at all of the pictures. I've seen this moth millions of times, and I'm sure it's pretty common where I live. I just can't figure it out.

I'm hoping it will still be alive tomorrow. I know that moths don't live very long. I want to go ahead and feed it, but I'm being cautious. I don't want to take any chances.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Here are some pics of Loki eating the moth.

It was a bit big for him, but he handled it like a pro. He caught it the day before, and held it in his mouth for quite some time. He didn't end up killing it, and it flew off to a dark spot in his cage. I thought it was dead, but the next day I took him out for some sun. I was giving the cage a good spray and the darn thing flew onto the top of the cage! He spotted it in a second, and went for it. Again.. he held it in his mouth for a while. I took some pics and he swallowed it. Loki really enjoyed his first WC moth. Hopefully I can work on finding some appropriately sized insects this summer.

Enjoy.

 

[stepho]

Yay!! I'm so excited!

I live in KY which is FULL of insects. Sadly, I have no equipment to catch them with. Plus, the only ones that tend to find me are toxic or spiders (which I hate). My best friend has a legit fear of moths and butterflies. So she's no help.

I'd love to be able to catch hoppers and what not. The only insect catching equipment I've seen is the cheap stuff marketed towards kids. Do any chains (such as walmart) sell nets or anything I could use for this purpose?

Whats wrong with the cheap stuff marketed towards kids? If it catches bugs that's all you need! I use a fish net (like for catching fish in an aquarium) because its all I had laying around.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Whats wrong with the cheap stuff marketed towards kids? If it catches bugs that's all you need! I use a fish net (like for catching fish in an aquarium) because its all I had laying around.

I figured the overpriced kits made for kids would fall apart easily. I know absolutely nothing about catching bugs. I guess I'll have to hunt around town to find some supplies. Thanks for the tip.

 

[lysinlight87]

nice one! I caught some moths for my summer project, then felt guilty about feeding them to Neelix so I let them go lol. I'll be less soppy next time, cos I'm sure he'll love them!

 

[lysinlight87]

Also, don't feel bad about not being able to identify it. There are 3000 species of moth in the UK, so bet there's load more in the US. I also found ID seems to come down to little things like the length of a spine on the 9th segment, or something similar lol.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

nice one! I caught some moths for my summer project, then felt guilty about feeding them to Neelix so I let them go lol. I'll be less soppy next time, cos I'm sure he'll love them!

Also, don't feel bad about not being able to identify it. There are 3000 species of moth in the UK, so bet there's load more in the US. I also found ID seems to come down to little things like the length of a spine on the 9th segment, or something similar lol.

Haha! I bet he will!

It just happened kind of randomly for me. A moth flew over my head, and I thought "Hey.. Loki could eat that". Lol.

I wish I could have identified it, and it was frustrating because I'm awesome at those kind of things.

I've been very cautious about feeding WC insects up until now. I live in Kentucky, but my house is in the city. We don't use pesticides, but I know a neighbor down the road that does. He puts these "sticks" into the ground to prevent certain bugs. My best option would be to get proper equipment, drive about 15 minutes away, and hunt for bugs in a country field.