The Species That Saved Me

Chapter 1: Actias luna

Moths make me tick. So much so that I think if I lost them as a special interest, I'd fall apart. They are interesting to me that 3 of them made the list. Well, 1 is a butterfly, but technically by the law of monophyly butterflies (having descended from moths) are in fact moths. I will some day tell you fine folks a bit about several other butterfly species that are near and dear to me. There are so many other moths I want to (symbolically) vomit hoards of miscellaneous knowledge about and experience with onto y'all, but we need to reign this thing in. I don't know if there's something inherent to moths that I'm drawn to, or if it's that I've learned to be skeptical of people's shunning of something that people generally hating moths makes me like them so much. I am also writing this at a time when I've had contact with 1 moth species in the last 6 months and your boi (I'm nonbinary so I'll alternate between referring to myself as a boy or a girl) ain't doin so hot!

Can we just zoom out on the Lepidoptera as a whole to appreciate them? Ok I guess that because fair's fair and I didn't write this book in order, so why would I expect to read it in order? If you want to skip ahead to the dog chapter, chapter 3, go ahead, but please come back to the luna moth chapter! PLEASE... There's the "conventional" Lepidoptera that laypeople tend to know. You know, the ones that feed on leaves as larvae (referred to as external folivores) and nectar or nothing as adults? Well, that feeding guild (a feeding guild is basically HOW the herbivore utilizes the host plant) is one of the myriad ways larval lepidopterans feed. Some moths are so tiny that the caterpillar is small enough to fit between the layers of a leaf! These are miners. Then we have our gallers.

Imagine, if you will, the ability to give your food cancer. Now why the fuck would you want to do that? Because to you, cancer is delicious. Let me explain something real quickly. Cancer in humans is tragic because the cells of a human aren't compatible with a human cancer. Plants aren't confined to this. Basically, plants can tolerate a lot more genetic material and cell overgrowth than any species of animal, and so cancer does not kill plants. The plant cancer cells, however, are extra nutritious for an herbivore. This is in part because they have no defensive chemistry (something we'll cover in the next chapter) that can harm the herbivore. So some insects and arachnids and nematodes have evolved ways to induce cancerous masses on a plant for their own benefit (food and shelter). When insects and certain mites do this to plants for food, we refer to this as galling. The gall is the big wad of plant tissue with the critter inside. We tend to associate galls with wasps and certain flies, but there are lepidopteran species that form galls on their hosts.

Some lepidopteran larvae are skeletonizers, eating the soft, non-venous leaf bits. Others feed on the buds or flowers. Some feed on leaf litter or fungus. Some are borers, living internally in the stem. Borers are among the worst pests because of their concealed feeding guild and the fact that they more readily kill the host. Some are parasitic on other animals or their food sources. Others actively prey upon other insects! Some feed on dead shit. Moths aren't limited to just leafy tissues.

As for adult feeding, people are usually aware of nectar-feeders and some may be aware that adult moths sometimes don't feed. Generally, most species follow this pattern, but biology wouldn't REALLY be biology without its exceptions. Plenty of moths (and butterflies) in the adult phase will eat things besides flower nectar. Hell, you can use beer with some brown sugar to attract a wide range of moths if you were so inclined. We'll have to talk about national moth week later. Moths will drink blood (oh you're in for a treat next chapter), tree sap, the juices from rotting carrion, dung, rotting fruits, and urine.

I want to warn you that this story will not be told in chronological order. I will make sure you know what age I was when something important to the story happened but I feel it's important for me to tell the story in the order that details come to mind.