Action 2.0!

Well, it has been a very exciting day indeed!

Shortly after our last lab note, we became acutely aware that something wasn't quite right with how our moth was emerging. It was coming out tail end first. 

 

We conferred with a few people and it was made clear that generally moths in this situation die. Think of it like a breech birth in mammals. Given we only have a handful of living pupae it was time to step in for some moth rescue surgery. Tools were gathered. 

 

Then ever so gently the two halves of the remaining pupal case were removed. The minute they were off the moth was wiggling around looking for a perch. We gently gave it a twig to rest on, where although a bit wobbly after likely fighting the better part of the night to get out, it was stable. 

 

It is now resting happily back in the warm cabinet, drying out its wings. With a wing span of around 13 to 17cm we are expecting this to take a few hours. 

 

Based on the shape and size of its antennae and body we believe this is a male. Anyone have any name suggestions?

We'll update once his wings are full size, and fingers crossed he gets a mate in the next few days.