Lesson in Metamorphosis

If you're not careful, the craft of gardening will lead you off in other directions and you may find yourself capturing a moth pupa you find in the soil and bringing it home to see what it becomes. Not long ago, Joe found a pupa just beneath the soil surface that looked a lot like the one pictured here, wrapped it in soil and foil and started the experiment. Now that it has transformed, we think it is in the Noctuidae Family of Moths (Owlet Moths). We're willing to say we think it might be in the subfamily Noctuinae, Cutworm or Dart Moths and that the insect in its larval stage is a pest in the garden, but that's about all the research we're willing to do. The metamorphosis was something to experience though. (More pictures of similar moths here).