Nearly 100 Participants

Citizen Submits

Special thanks from Hugh D McGuinness from Washington, DC, for his collection

HAWK MOTH

Citizen Project

1

After Capture, Freeze it

After you capture the hawkmoth, put it in the freezer. That procedure euthanizes the animal in a humane way by decreasing its metabolism slowly.

Leave it a day in the freezer, and then take it out to thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

After Thawed, Place in Envelope

After it has thawed, carefully fold the wings over the back of the moth. Please ensure that the appendages are not broken off and that the wing pattern is not damaged by removing too many scales. Now, put the dried hawkmoth in any envelope - their bodies must go in first!

VIEW FOLDING HOW TO

2

3

Put The Envelope In A Box

You can use any box you want, just remember to pad the inside of the box with tons of paper. That will cushion the dry hawkmoth and get it safely to us!

Folding Wings

This is what the folded wings should look like when viewing from the front (left photo) and from the side (right photo). This position ensures minimal damage to the individual during shipping.

To get to this point, freeze and thaw the individual. When ready to pack, carefully touch the wings and move them upwards and put the moth - body first - in the envelope.

Citizen Project Contact

Alexandre Varaschin Palaoro
avarasc@clemson.edu
161 Sirrine Hall
Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering

After contacting us, you will receive an account number and free FedEx shipping instructions.

AIMS students present research at SC Botanical Gardens

The AIMS students Adam Puchalski and Megan Bishoff present their research before the summer camp students. We thank Erin Rockenhaus from Circular STEM https://circularstem.com/ and Susan Watts from SC Botanical Garden for inviting us to share our excitement about insects with these students.

VIEW | SCBG PRESENTATION

AIMS Students presenting research at SCBG

Caterpillars can stop their bleeding and seal wounds in seconds

“Meet the tobacco hornworm, a green caterpillar you might not find pretty, but its blood characteristics will surprise you. This caterpillar is a wound-healing wonder that can stop itself from bleeding with incredible speed, sealing up wounds in less than a minute."https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsfm.2024.1341129/full

Read | Earth.com

Sipping takes no effort for hovering hawkmoths

“Hovering takes the most effort so how much energy does sipping require when hawkmoths hover? Next to nothing, apparently. Their proboscises are incredibly wettable, drawing nectar along the length with no effort, giving them a free drink on the wing: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245699”

REad | Inside Jeb

Click to view larger version

NSF #2042937 Comparative Biomechanics of Hawk Moths with Minute to Giant Proboscises and Diverse Feeding Habits

Among the most popular insects are the hawk moths, well known for their remarkably long proboscises and ability to feed from flowers with extraordinarily long nectar tubes containing nectar of variable viscosity, from watery to sticky. To understand the wide-ranging abilities of these moths to acquire fluid from long and short nectar tubes, a diverse team of researchers will investigate the structure, function, and biomechanics of the proboscis and its associated sucking pump. The team will focus on how wettability of the proboscis and it ability to take up fluid enable the many species of hawk moths to feed on a wide range of liquid resources and from flowers with different nectar-tube lengths. VIEW PROJECT DETAILS >>