While we were vacationing with my parents in Tennessee, my husband discovered a cocoon, wrapped in a dried leaf, in the Great Smoky Mountains. He was inquisitive and thought it was dead, so he started to cut the leaf open, but as he did, the cocoon started shaking and so he stopped. Excited to find a cocoon (after we'd just successfully hatched a butterfly a week earlier), we decided to bring it home with us. (I know, I know,"take only pictures, leave only footprints," but I guess we're rebels like that!)
That was November, and it has hung in our butterfly house (a fabulous present from my sister) for all these months, until yesterday. At times, we would give up hope and pull it out and peel back the leaf a bit to look at the cocoon, sure that it was dead, but it would shake around a little bit and we would be encouraged that it was still alive.
Still, we were curious as to how long it would hang there (taped to a stick with scotch tape) and whether or not it would survive. I even talk to a "Moth Guy." He was skeptical and advised that I mist it with water so that it wouldn't dry out, so we started doing that in January.
Last night at dinner, 1dh8 glanced over at the butterfly house and announced, "We have a moth!" Unfortunately, like our butterfly, we did not have the privilege of watching it emerge, but we are still thrilled to have a moth.
We've done some research and to the best of our knowledge it is a male, Tuliptree Silkmoth. It's only supposed to live for a couple of days and since we took it out of its habitat, we're dubious that it can find a mate, so we're not sure what we'll do with it. Here are the best pictures that I could take. He's beautiful and these pictures do not capture the depth of color! Truly, the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord!
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