Out of our 3 Luna moth cocoons, 2 mature moths successfully emerged and were released. Our first moth suffered wing damage during the first release attempt after tumbling off the vegetation and onto the ground, but still successfully flew off 3 nights later when we released the last, largest, and most beautiful moth. The second moth to emerge was never able to fill its wings properly and died after a few short hours perched on the side of the habitat. We believe all three were females, but it is difficult to be sure. Females have relatively larger abdomens and relatively smaller antennae than males. It is clear that the second was a female. She laid these eggs on the side of the habitat just before she died. We are guessing than they are unfertilized, but there is always the chance that we mistakenly identified the first, who was still in the habitat, as a female. If No. 1 was actually male, it is possible they mated before No. 2 expired, but I do not know what that means for the genetic strength of their offspring.
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