Mostly I think of moths as those
boring light brown butterfly-like insects that invade your wardrobe and
enthusiastically redo your clothes. But the other day when a very big butterfly
settled on my screen door, there was nothing about him that reminded me of a
moth.
This beautiful Big Emperor Moth (Saturnia
pyri) is the
biggest butterfly found in Europe - his wing span varies from 80 to 160 mm - so
he is a real emperor; but in Holland he is named after the peacock’s eye on his
wings: the Big Peacock’s Eye. He is an impressive sight, but I have to confess
that I’m also a little scared by his huge hairy body and legs that bring to
mind a tarantula. Years ago another Big Emperor Moth visited my house and even
though I have many cats and dogs around, it remained on a pile of wood for
days. Why did such a butterfly stay there so long?
I was amazed that this magnificent
creature belongs to the moth family, which I usually only associate with those
clothes devouring devils. In Dutch moths can also be called Night Butterflies,
which I think is a better definition and a name much easier to associated with
those colourful and elegant flying insects. The biggest difference is that
moths fly at night and (day) butterflies like to play in the sun. And by the
way, the European Peacock (Inachis io) is the
Emperor’s little sister, which in Dutch we call the Day Peacock’s eye.
Most people know that all
butterflies lie eggs, producing caterpillars that start eating as soon as they
can creep around. The caterpillar then change into a nymph, usually protected
in a self-woven cocoon, which after some time produces a new butterfly. The Big
Emperor Moth has the same cycle. As a youngster the big fat caterpillar is
black with orange-yellow spots, then he becomes bright green with yellow spots that might change into a
bright sky blue: such nice colours, just like a chameleon slowly changing
colours. It is difficult to say which is the most impressive image of the
Emperor Moth: the fanciful caterpillar or the butterfly that is a little
grayish with dark red, brown, white and black.
(The caterpillar of a Big Emperor Moth)
The caterpillar world offers a
wonderful collection of forms and colours: look here for 15 alien looking caterpillars. The Oak
Processionaries (also the Pine Processionaries) are renowned for their dangerous
‘hairshooting’. It is a great relief that the caterpillar that shoots with real
poison, like the Giant Silkworm Moth, lives far away from Lesvos in
South America (Bresil).
There is no danger in taking a
closer look at the sturdy caterpillar of the Emperor Moth, because he is
totally harmless. This creature feeds on the leaves of fruit trees in the
warmer parts of the world, like in the south of Europe. And they had better eat
their bellyfull because when they become a butterfly, there is no more eating.
The butterfly stage serves only to produce offspring: a lady tries to seduce a
man (who can sense her presence from as far as 11 kilometres), then they do it
and the female lies eggs.
For days that Big Emperor Moth
remained hanging on my screen door (well, I must admit that I did not check
whether he or she left for a flight in the night). After two days another Big
Emperor Moth came and settled himself on the ear of the plush reindeer head
that I have next to my frontdoor screen. Was it a female on the screen door
that had attracted a male one? Were they going to produce offspring? I did not
spy as to how they went about it. And anyway, on the internet (interpod) I read that their intercourse could last as long as 22 hours. One of
them remained hanging on the screen door, no matter how hard or slow you opened
or closed it and the other one nestled up to the reindeer’s ear, as if they
were preparing for a long mating dance. But – reading further on the internet –
the lifespan of a Big Emperor Moth is just one week! So there was no big love
story developing between these two because they cannot live long and happy
lives. Maybe the invisible mating dance lasted for several days, but without any
result. I will never know because one morning the Big Emperor Moth on the
screen door was gone and the other on the reindeer’s ear grieved for a day and
then disappeared also.
If they’d had a quickie before
saying goodbye, the new mother-to-be would have been in a hurry to lay her eggs
because she had taken days to seduce her lover and there was so little time
left. And then, thinking about the pictures of the Emperor caterpillars, it
seemed that I knew them; I suddenly remembered that bright coloured caterpillar
that last year had been in the cherry tree next to the front door. When I
checked the photographs there indeed was for several days an Emperor’s
caterpillar feasting on the leaves of my cherry tree. Could this butterfly have
returned to her roots thinking that the screen door was her cherry tree?
The two moths did not eat a hole in
the screen door, nor was the ear of the reindeer damaged. But why did they stay
so long without moving? Maybe next year their offspring will return and then I
will have a better look at what they get up to.
(with thanks to Mary Staples)
© Smitaki 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment