Moth FAQ's

Moth FAQ's

What moths will emerge from our cocoons?

We ship a variety of giant silk moths Once your moth has emerged, you can check its identity in a field guide. If you don’t have a field guide, go to www.butterfliesandmoths.org, select Taxonomic Groups and Giant Silkworm Moths (under the category Wild Silk Moths) to view photos for identification.

It has been 3 weeks and our moths have not emerged. What can we do?

There are two basic tests to assess viability of luna moth cocoons.

1. Does it make noise of move when gently touched? Have you ever seen it moving? If so, it is alive. If they have not emerged after 4-8 weeks, it may be in diapause, which will need to be broken. Diapause is an extension of the pupal stage to prevent moths from emerging when they would be unlikely to find mates or suitable plants to lay their eggs on. This is not uncommon for the material we have. Please see instructions for how to break diapause in our Care Guide
2. Gently shake the cocoon. If the pupa is alive, you will hear a rattle as it bumps against the wall of the cocoon. It almost feels like there is a bean inside of the cocoon. If the pupa has died, only a thin shell will be left and you will not hear a rattle. Typically, if adult moths have not emerged after ~4 weeks after following the diapause protocol, we consider them non-viable.

What do we feed our moths?

Adult moths have a short lifespan. They do not feed during this stage and do not have mouthparts. They survive on fat stored from the larval stage.