Triad Moth

WIP - Summer Camp 2023

The triad moth is an insect native to a small patch of wetland on the tidal estuary of the NAME river in the country of Dryst. They are taken as a sign that summer has arrived by the local people.
Triad moths have a long body with a hard exoskeleton, and six legs. It has two antennae it uses for sensing, and a long proboscis. It also has two compound eyes. It has two pairs of wings. The larger wings on the front of its body are a mixture of red and yellow streaks, and the smaller back wings are solid beige. It eats the salt that crystalises on the grass when the tide goes out.
Like all moths, it has several life stages. The first stage is after it has hatched from an egg, a clutch which a female moth lays on the tallest blades of grass to protect them from the tides. When hatched, it is a small yellow caterpillar that feasts on the blades of the coastal wetland grass. It eats solidly for several weeks, growing larger as it does so. After this, it forms a pupa using silk formed by a special gland at its tail and spinning it around itself. It remains in the pupa for another several weeks, its form liquefying and then creating a new form. Then it breaks free from the pupa, emerging as a fully grown moth. It takes several hours for its wings to dry before it can unfurl them to fly to find a mate of its own.
Over the last ten years, since Dryst has become more and more industrialised, the NAME river and its wetlands have become polluted by run off from the coal mine several miles up-river. The number of sightings of triad moths has dwindled over the past few years, to the point where they are now feared extinct.