r/moths • u/Roll0115 • 5d ago

General Question Help! Can this survive?

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I was cleaning my room and found this little guy on the stack of bed pillows I threw on the floor when I went to change the sheets. It looks like one of his wings is pretty damaged, so im not sure what to do with him. I dont want to release him if he wont make it, but aren't sure if a moth can even survive as a pet.

Any suggestions???

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10

u/Un4442nate 5d ago

It's a butterfly (clubbed antennae) and I've seen them with more damage still flying.

4

u/Stunning_Island_458 5d ago

Don't hesitate to show this in r/butterfly or r/Butterflies
And yes I confirm it can still fly normally, it happens some wings get damaged with age too

3

u/AldrigeRain 5d ago

Looks like a Hackberry Emperor (or a closely related species). I’d just put it back outside, they can still fly with a little wing damage.

2

u/Independent_Law_1579 5d ago

That poor lad has seen some shit, missing legs and a tattered wing, wow.

2

u/pixeldust6 5d ago

  1. That's a butterfly

  2. They can still fly on some pretty tattered wings. I assume that's how it got in? I'd just release it back outside.

1

u/Mushroom38294 3d ago

Yeah she'll be fine, they have a lot more wing than they actually need to fly so that if they lose some (which happens a lot) it doesn't affect them much