The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or peahens in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like lots of photos. :)
A little while ago I was walking out of the store after grocery shopping when I just happened to see a very large dead moth on the sidewalk. Since it was in perfect shape, with all the legs and both antennae (the only damage being a notch taken out of one wing, probably by a bird, but that's not what killed it), I decided to keep it and mount it. So I carefully picked it up and put it inside a little box that I picked out of a nearby trash can and slipped it into a pocket on my backpack to take home.
Here's what it looks like (the wingspan is about six inches, and when I found it the wings were overlapping quite a bit):
I am pretty sure it's a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus), but would very much welcome a correction to that if necessary, before I label it.
Since it was already dried out and desiccated, I had to rehydrate it in a "relaxing box" so I could move the wings to a good position for mounting without breaking them. Since I spent much of my childhood collecting bugs, I knew how to do this, and improvised a relaxing box at home from a tupperware container and a couple damp paper towels:
While the moth sat in the sealed airtight relaxing box for the next two days, I went online to find materials to make a "Riker Box", which is sort of like a deep picture frame filled with cotton, to mount the moth in. And I found that it's actually cheaper to buy a ready-made Riker Box online than it is to get the materials to make one (wow, I wish I'd had these back when I was a kld). So I ordered one from Carolina Biological Supply:
With the Riker Box on the way to me, the moth was now rehydrated and pliable so I could move the wings. So I laid him on his back, arranged the wings where I wanted them, and weighed them down with some microscope slides to hold them in place until they dried out again, fixing them in position:
When the package arrived in the mail it was time to arrange the moth inside the Riker Box:
And then on to my bedroom wall, next to my fossil casts and the tropical butterfly displays I got years ago at Busch Gardens:
Looks pretty good there. :)
And now it is your turn: let us know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Did you have a bug collection as a kid?