229. Kids To Die For

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Now, if it turns out that our lives are governed by an omnipotent being. And if it turns out that the omnipotent being is, for whatever reason, pursuing a policy or reincarnation. And if you should come face to face with the omnipotent being and be offered the choice, “What’s it to be next time”? Here’s what I’d advise you never ever say, “I want to be a female vapourer moth, Ma’am”.

You see for the female vapourer moth or, more amusingly named rusty tussock moth, life is hard and life is short. This one was one of the caterpillars that we saw last month. She’s spent a couple of weeks in pupa form and hatched this morning. Unlike their male counterparts, the females do not develop proper wings and do not move far from their empty cocoon.

A quick consumation of… err whatever moths have to consummate and that’s her fun overwith. The rest of her life will be spent laying eggs and looking like a miniature furry armadillo carefully arranging little white honey pots on the underside of a leaf.

For the Eurpean vapouras this life cycle can take place three times in the course of one summer. For their American cousins, just once. The British ones, it seems, are uncertain just how far East they are across the Atlantic. But you’ll be the first to know if there’s anymore of this behaviour on my geraniums.