okay so today we're doing something fun we're just reviewing a product here that
I picked up on Amazon I paid full price so I did not get it as a promotion and
what it is is it's a butterfly habitat but this is not a butterfly what I put
in this is a luna moth so we collect Maz at night we put them in these habitats
and this protects their wings so that we can photograph them I'm showing you here
that there is a transparent plastic cover that you're supposed to be able to
look through which you can but it is not suitable for a photography because it
will distort the image but there is a handy side panel that we can zip open
here and then you can see it full size or you can get in there as it's designed
to be a butterfly habitat so you might be putting a pot of milk weeds in here
and growing those with some milkweed leaves being chewed by monarch butterfly
caterpillars and then you keep them and then when they turn into their cocoon
and they go through metamorphosis and they hatch out they don't get away but
when you put butterflies in them or moths as in this case we have the luna
moth they won't hurt themselves and they have a nice texture to cling to
so this vented mesh that's all over it is perfect for them to purchase during
the day and then of course at night and we're getting into nighttime now you
just zip it open you can take them out and turn them loose if it's a butterfly
after they've hatched out of their chrysalis then you get to watch them dry
out you can take pictures as I've pointed out if you zip open the side to
get a nice clear shot of them and then you get a chance to learn a bit about
them before releasing them so they can go out and mate and lay eggs and then
the cycle starts again so this is plenty large it's 2 feet by 2 feet and then
it's 37 inches tall although the listing said it was 36 inches it's actually an
inch taller than that and it's made by rest cloud comes in a 2 pack I'll show
you the smaller version that comes with it at the end and we're gonna take this
luna moth out we're gonna turn it loose because the Sun has set and we are going
to let it find its mate through the night here so again and you look through
the back side here it shows that the mesh is an easy thing for it to cling to
we're also showing the underside gives you a chance to really look them over
also of course protects a moth or the butterfly from birds and other things
you don't want to leave it out in direct sunlight for example you can really take
your time and look them over there's plenty of space in it so this would
actually hold several milkweeds in pots if you wanted to and you can have
several monarch butterfly caterpillars or some of the caterpillar of your
choosing and then you can watch them go through and they consume the leaves and
then spin their cocoons so it's a great educational thing these are very
inexpensive and I'll have the link to them down below and you can look them up
for yourself nice to have as I mentioned they fold flat good easy storage there
and the zippers are nice lightweight easy to use let's get this guy out of
here and get him going on his night hunt for a mate it is a male we can tell that
by the broad antennae that they have we're gonna walk them over and put them
on a tree here if everything goes right it doesn't fly off and the cool part of
this is these habitats definitely protect their wings moths are very
sensitive butterflies are sensitive this little tear and the lower right wing
there was already there it's not new so we didn't do any additional damage by
putting him in here you can set these up with a light bulb inside at night and
then Maas will be attracted they'll cling to the outside of it and then the
mozz that you decide you want to keep for the following days observation you
just collect off the outside of it and put them inside and then as daylight
comes you'll have them to take pictures of and of course put them in a protected
shaded area you also want to make sure the birds can't get them as I mentioned
before so now you know they have really sticky feet this thing is clinging to my
finger we're gonna see if we can get them off here but since he's hanging on
so tight I'm gonna take this opportunity to photograph his head up close if you
notice unlike butterflies this moth has no eating cards they can't drink nectar
it doesn't eat all it does is little off the fat that's stored that it based on
what it ate while it was still a caterpillar so once it comes out of its
cocoon and has become a full-grown moth they don't eat anymore
all he's gonna do is hunt a female and it's gonna do that by following her
scent at night very very interesting Luna moths are in decline in some areas
so they're worth looking after off he goes they're very good fliers he's gonna
cut a corner here and then he disappears from view so that was fun
these are really nice habitats to have no matter what kind of flying insight
you want to put in there for observation they are very handy it's summertime
great for your kids now I'm starting some seedlings here these are swamp
milkweeds that will be good for butterflies and edit pollinators we'll
use these for our honeybees as well so it shows you that we can tip this thing
on its side and use it to diffuse the sunlight that's coming down when you
have new seedlings that are starting out you want somebody shade but plenty of
light and this works great for that here's the smaller version that comes
with it sixteen by sixteen at the base and twenty four inches tall it does not
have a solid bottom with a larger version has this green fabric here
they're very nice again they all fold flat this one fits right inside the
other one so if you're storing things easy to put away so start seedlings
protect insects great I highly recommend them thanks for watching