#he has the eyes of a newly hatched bug he’s so cute

[gobullworth]

old boy laying on the leather jacket

[smaidjor]

On Butterflies and Spring (Emptober Day 2)

Summary:

After the success of their first....alliance meeting (date?), Scott decides to set up another one. This time it involves butterflies, the coming of spring, and a little bit of hope amidst all the death and corruption of empires.

With, of course, a healthy dose of yearning.

(Prompt fill for Emptober Day 2: Bug)

Wordcount: 1493

Warnings: none

After yesterday's angst, I felt the need to spoil you guys with a little fluff. So have a cute flower husbands date :).

Fic below the cut:

Rivendell is pretty in the spring, Jimmy thinks as he crosses the bridge. It’s cold, still, far colder than the swamp, but the sun shining above makes the chill a bit more bearable. A few flowers have started to poke out of the ground, little patches of green grass scattered amongst the last of the winter snow. The breeze makes Jimmy shiver, though it smells fresh, like new life.

Scott meets him at the path, dressed far more casually than usual (though he’s still stunning- is he ever not?). His usual white and gold have mostly been exchanged for a blue-green shade, pants that don’t quite reach the top of his boots, though Jimmy has no idea how his legs aren’t freezing.

“Hello, Codfather.”

"Elvenking,” Jimmy returns, grinning a little.

“Please, we’re allies. Call me Scott.”

“Then you should call me Jimmy.”

Scott laughs. “Alright, Jimmy. So, welcome back to Rivendell- I don’t have something fancy set up today, but I thought I’d show you the greenhouse. There’s something special going on,” he adds, winking at Jimmy.

“Something special? Do I get to know what it is?”

“I won’t tell you just yet,” Scott says. He’s fiddling with the hem of his tunic, uncharacteristically anxious. “I hope it’ll be worth it, though, once you see the greenhouse.”

“Is the greenhouse warmer than here?” Jimmy can’t help asking. He’s shivering already, having most definitely forgotten just how cold Rivendell was. This cloak was fine for spring in the Codlands!

“Aww, poor swamp boy is cold,” Scott teases. “Here, have a warmer cloak.” He unbuckles his cloak swiftly, his movements elegant and efficient, and tosses the cloak around Jimmy’s shoulders.

Jimmy struggles for a moment to clasp it, fingers stiff from the cold, until finally Scott sighs and takes pity on him. Jimmy hardly dares breathe as Scott’s fingers brush up against the skin of his neck; Scott’s hands are somehow warm despite the chill of the day and his lack of gloves, though his touch still makes Jimmy shiver, breath caught in his throat.

He’s almost disappointed when the clasp clicks into place and Scott pulls away. “There you go. The greenhouse is warmer, but I know you’re never prepared for the cold- I hope you’ll put up with it for our little alliance date today.”

Jimmy nods, pulling Scott’s cloak tighter around himself. “I can put up with it.” He’d put up with just about anything if Scott was involved, he doesn’t say.

“Good, you’ll have to if you plan on maintaining this… alliance.” Scott gestures to follow him, and Jimmy does, trotting down the neatly made stone path. The elves are so very elegant in their building style, even when it comes to the paths. Jimmy can see traces of Scott everywhere in the architecture- even the buildings he just helped with are gracefully, beautifully made.

They reach what seems like a glass dome, built high on one of the hills. The inside of it looks lush and green, a stark contrast to the bits of snow still littering the ground outside.

Scott pushes open the door, creating a rush of warm air. “Come on in.”

Jimmy’s happy to, breathing a slight sigh of relief at the warmth within. “This is pretty, dude!”

“Thanks, I built it myself.”

“Did you really?”

“Not all of it,” Scott laughs. “But this is one of the newer buildings in Rivendell- I did the design and a fair bit of construction on it.”

“Whoa,” Jimmy breathes. He’ll never fail to be impressed by Scott, over and over no matter how many times the elf does something incredible.

Scott’s expression is as unreadable as ever, but Jimmy thinks he can see a bit of pride hidden in his small smile. “Glad you like it.”

“Like it? This is incredible!”

“You haven’t even seen what I was planning to show you yet.”

Jimmy’s not sure what could make the greenhouse any more wonderful, but he nods anyways. “Lead the way!”

Scott does, showing him over to a part of the greenhouse where a particular plant takes up much of the space. It’s not all that remarkable- the plant itself is merely a common weed. Jimmy casts a confused glance at Scott, who gestures at the varying cocoons hanging from the plants.

“The butterflies,” Jimmy’s ally- allies, and only that, Jimmy tells himself- explains. “It’s getting close to the time where they’ll be emerging from the cocoons. In fact, we should see at least one or two today, if we’re lucky.”

“Oh!”

“Mhm.” Scott sits right down on the grass, patting a spot next to him. “We might be here a while, so I’d sit.”

Jimmy flops next to him, not taking his eyes off the cocoons. “Do you have a lot of butterflies in Rivendell?”

“Only these few. Not many butterflies can live at such high altitudes, but generations of monarchs have been born in Rivendell. They start out so small, you know?”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. Just tiny clusters of eggs on the milkweed. And then they hatch into little green caterpillars. They’re so fragile at the beginning,” Scott tells him. “You could crush one so easily if you weren’t careful.”

“Like cod eggs,” Jimmy says.

“Like cod eggs. And they grow, and then they weave cocoons around themselves. It takes a long time, especially compared to the lifespan of a butterfly. You have to be patient.”

Jimmy glances down at where Scott’s hand is resting next to his on the grass, close enough to reach out and take if he was just bold enough. “Yeah. Patient.”

“It takes them a while to emerge,” Scott continues. “They take a long time to come out- like me-”

Jimmy snorts, and Scott cuts himself off with a giggle.

“Anyways. But if you wait long enough, if you’re patient, and gentle, what emerges is something beautiful.” Scott’s tone is almost wistful, and somehow, Jimmy has a feeling he’s not talking about the butterflies anymore.

He swallows his nerves and puts his hand over Scott’s. “I bet they’re gorgeous when they’re all grown up.”

Scott turns to look at him, surprise flitting across his face before it’s replaced with something softer, fonder, that Jimmy doesn’t dare put a name to. “You’ll get to see them soon, hopefully.”

“Either way, I’m glad I came to visit.”

“I’m glad you came too,” Scott says softly. It sounds like he means it.

True to Scott’s word, they don’t have to wait much longer before one of the cocoons starts to shake.

Jimmy’s the one who points it out, nudging Scott’s shoulder and pointing to the cocoon. “Scott, look!”

“Here we go,” Scott agrees.

Butterflies aren’t quick to break free of their chrysalises, but Jimmy can’t say he minds that, not when it gives him a convenient excuse to spend more time with Scott. Scott hasn’t let go of his hand; he doesn’t, even when Jimmy squeezes it excitedly as the butterfly starts to emerge.

The monarch sits on the outside of its cocoon for a while, letting its crumpled wings dry off. Finally, it flaps them out fully and takes the leap of faith off its cocoon.

Jimmy’s holding his breath, but the newly reborn butterfly takes to the air as naturally as if it’s been flying all its life. It flits around him and Scott, circling a few times before it lands on Scott’s outstretched hand.

Scott smiles, wider and more purely joyful than Jimmy’s ever seen him. “Look, Jimmy.”

“Oh! You’re like a butterfly whisperer, dude,” Jimmy tells him. He finds himself smiling too; Scott’s joy at the butterfly is so contagious that he just can’t help it. Scott is even more gorgeous when he smiles, too, which definitely doesn’t hurt.

The butterfly flits away, and Scott brings his hand down to clasp Jimmy’s hand between both of his. “Thank you so much for the date, Codfather.”

Back to formal names. Jimmy’s head spins at the contrast between how Scott’s still holding his hand, gentle, intimate, and the formality of the title. “Well, you were the one who invited me! I should be thanking you, really.”

“It’s not like there was a lot of set-up involved,” Scott teases.

“Still. I had a wonderful time.” Hardly believing his own boldness, Jimmy brings one of Scott’s hands up and kisses the back of it like a knight kissing the hand of their noble. “Let’s meet again?”

Scott flushes, and his voice comes out high and a bit strangled. “I’d love to.”

“Send me an owl,” Jimmy says. “Whenever you want, I can make time.”

“Expect a message soon,” Scott replies. It’s not a promise, but it sounds a bit like one and that’s enough for Jimmy.

He leaves in a flurry of goodbyes and blushing, and it’s only once he’s sweating in the warmth of the Cod Empire does he realize that not once, even walking through the snow, did Scott ask for his cloak back.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

Kids and Caterpillars: Fostering a Child’s Interest in Nature by Rearing Lepidoptera (Moth and Butterfly) Larvae

by James W. Fetzner Jr.

We hear a soft THUMP! as another large bug hits the sheet after being drawn in to the bright mercury vapor light on this moonless night in the mountains of Montana. Upon hearing that sound, our usual questions arise … “What was that?” or “Humm…Who are you?” My 9-year-old son and I try to determine if the new arrival to the sheet is a species that is new, or one that we have already seen this evening. In this case, we note that it appears to be a new brownish moth with slivery patches on its wings, a species that is new to us and a good choice for one of our attempted rearings. We scramble to capture it in one of our empty “live jars” before it flies away, in the hopes of eventually getting some eggs.

Female of Autographa pseudogamma (Grote, 1875) from Montana.

One of the easiest ways to encounter and collect insects from the wild is to erect a “bug sheet” at night and attract them en masse to your location, rather than expending a lot of effort trying to catch them individually by hand. As a scientist working in the vast insect collection at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), I often find myself bringing a bug sheet with me when I travel, especially when visiting family in other parts of the country. Not only does this help add specimens to our ever-expanding insect research collection, but it also serves as a fun way to experience the diversity of insects from different regions of our country. It is also an activity that kids really enjoy and engage with, and they always seem to have a great time catching interesting and colorful bugs. Even those that say they don’t like bugs seem to get caught up in the excitement when a large beetle or moth lands on the sheet.

Insect collecting sheet. A, the “bug sheet” setup. B, Collecting moths at the bug sheet.

After a few hours of collecting cool bugs at the sheet the night before, my son and I wake up in the morning and check our assortment of live jars with an air of anticipation. Nothing in that one, or in that one. But wait, look at the bottom of that jar. See those little pale-yellow dots all over? Those are what we were hoping for…EGGS!! Our female moth laid a bunch of eggs!  So, now the fun begins.

An example of pale-yellow eggs laid in the bottom of a “live jar.” Source was a female Pyrrharctia Isabella (J.E. Smith, 1797), also known as the Isabella tiger moth or banded woolly bear.

A little research in our trusty moth field guide and we determined that our bug was a species known as Autographa pseudogamma (Grote, 1875), the Delicate Silver Y moth. We also discovered that the caterpillar and host plant for this moth were unknown, (i.e., have never been described or characterized in the scientific literature). We realize that this is a great opportunity, not only to have fun rearing some caterpillars of a new species of moth that we have not encountered before, but we could also contribute to the scientific knowledge about this species by publishing a scientific paper describing the caterpillar and other aspects of its life history. A big win-win all around.

After finding out more information about this species and its close relatives, we started preparing for the eggs to hatch, which only took about seven days from the time they were laid. Once that happened, we transferred the very tiny, newly hatched caterpillars out of the live jar and into a larger plastic container with dandelion leaves from our front yard as food. They started eating and growing and my son watched them closely as they progressed through their various growth stages (instars). He had great fun watching and laughing as the 50 or so caterpillars tried to escape in all directions from the container onto our kitchen table (boy, they moved fast!) as we cleaned it out and added new food for them each day.

Image showing a typical caterpillar iso-female culture in a plastic “rearing chamber” (note: the lid has been removed so the contents can be seen). The photo shows an unrelated culture of Automeris randa Druce, 1894 from Arizona.

Rearing caterpillars is a lot like raising frog tadpoles. The caterpillars can be quite active, and they are constantly changing, with some species changing colors after they molt, others become hairier, and they all increase in size every time they molt to a new instar (the developmental stage in arthropods that occurs between molts). Just watching them eat or observing some of their other odd behaviors can be quite fascinating.  The caterpillars we reared were voracious eaters, eventually going through several pounds of dandelion leaves in a single day!

The previously unknown last instar caterpillar (larva) of Autographa pseudogamma.

Many children show a keen interest in caterpillars when they are encountered outdoors. Caterpillars are often seen as cute and fuzzy, which often leads to children touching them and/or picking them up.  However, you should be cautious of this because some caterpillars, like the conspicuous and commonly encountered Hickory Tussock Moth (Lophocampa caryae Harris, 1841) caterpillar, can sometimes cause severe skin rashes, or even blindness if you get their hairs into your eyes. Several field guides to caterpillars are available, but they are not all-inclusive. This is because there are many moth species where the caterpillars are not known (as in our case), or where caterpillars have been found, but it is not known which adults they came from.

After reaching the final instar, the caterpillars move on to the next stage of their life cycle before they become adults, the pupa. During this stage, they metamorphose from a worm-like larva into a winged adult, and for A. pseudogamma, this process only took 11 days.

Pupae of Autographa pseudogamma. Newly formed pupa (right) that is < one day old (green) along with an older pupa (left) that is > two days old (brown).

We were able to witness the entire life cycle of A. pseudogamma, from an adult to an egg to a larva to a pupa and then back to an adult again, all within the span of a single month. This was a great learning experience for my son.  He was able to intimately witness first-hand the process by which insects grow and develop, which is something that few people get to see. He was also able to participate directly in the various stages of scientific discovery and, perhaps more importantly, he was able to see how a scientist would record observations and how those data are converted directly into a scientific publication. If you are interested, our study on A. pseudogamma was recently published in the Annals of Carnegie Museum. While not every caterpillar rearing will result in a published study, they are great learning experiences for young children that have an interest in nature.  Studies of caterpillars like this would also make great school science fair projects. For information on getting started, see this article on how to rear caterpillars. 

The huge diversity of insects, with all their different colors, sizes, and shapes, still evokes a child-like awe in me for the natural world and this is something that I hope to pass down to my son, as well as other children that might visit the insect collection here at the natural history museum (all those budding entomologists). Remember, even something that may seem silly and inconsequential, like raising a few caterpillars at home with your child(ren), can turn into something that fosters a deeper interest in the natural world, and if you’re lucky, may even end up contributing significantly to science.

James W. Fetzner Jr., Ph.D., is assistant curator in the Section of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.