Bag Moth

Living close to the CBD and as close to my neighbours as I do I don’t expect to find a lot of wild life around the place. It could be argued that this caterpillar is not actually wild life but it is certainly alive and it’s wild.

It was hanging from my front rose bush when I left for NZ. I decided He-she had settled down for the winter.

I was even surer of this when I returned and it was hanging in exactly the same place.

I decided I would take He-she inside so I could see what sort of moth would appear from the cocoon.

It was easy enough to detach it from the rose and I carried it in and put it on the mantelpiece. A couple of hours later I found He-she didn’t like the mantelpiece and was crawling along the floor. It was suggested to me that it was hungry and looking for food. I supplied a few branches of lavender from under the rose and some rose leaves and put He-she in the middle. This wasn’t suitable and the caterpillar continued walk aroud the kitchen.

I felt guilty. A creature living in my house that could starve to death! It wasn’t a nice thought. So I have taken it out to give it the chance to eat. I now find it hanging from a lavender branch not far from where I left it. Outside is obviously better than inside if you’re a bag moth.

Bag moths? I have learned that they can live up to two years inside their bag before turning into a moth. As yet I haven’t seen a picture of the moth they turn into. Does anyone know?

There is other wild life alive and well and round here. The top of the parsley has been eaten off by a possum and we have the first daffodil ready to come out. Last year possums nibbled away at them. I hope last year they found that a yellow flower made them sick. A nibbled daffodil is a rather sad sight.