Time-lapse Sphinx moth egg hatches under microscope

[The3EpicNinjas]

where do you get the caterpillars or do find them

[jcmegabyte]

Yes - I go out in the field and find nearly all of the eggs, caterpillars and adult butterflies/moths that I work with :-)

[The3EpicNinjas]

@jcmegabyte what plants do you mostly find the sphinx caterpillars on?

[jcmegabyte]

It really depends on the species... These lucidus eggs came from adults ovipositing on Primrose. Carolina Sphinx can be easily found on tomato plants (known as tomato worms), and at the right time of year, White-Lined Sphinx larvae can be found crawling on and eating just about anything in my area! XD It really help to get to know the species found in your area, and their host plants :-)

[TheOffensiveuser]

Disgusting how everything is born from a slimy beginning... EVEN THE SPERM IS SLIMY! WTF?!?!!

[chocofan4eva]

is it EATING the egg?

[jcmegabyte]

Yep - all butterfly and moth caterpillars eat their way out of the eggshell, and many will eat the entire thing after they are out. Apparently the shell makes a good first meal - full of protein and such. =)

[chaotic136969]

that was intense....

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out!

[bloonblast]

I love your videos, keep on posting up more. :D

[jcmegabyte]

I'm glad you're enjoying the show - thanks so much for the view and nice comment! =)

[dittyluva]

ewewewewewewew i search tiny egg hatching and this pops up????? blehh

[TheMike16112]

How did I go from ps2 to this?

[jcmegabyte]

Good question - you gotta wonder about the "related videos" logic sometimes! XD

[ExposeMagic]

@jcmegabyte I stumbled here from mars videos. You have a great channel! Really enjoyed your videos.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for stopping by - glad you enjoyed the show! :-)

[ShwamoRox787]

I hate insects because they stick needle like hairs into your skin multiple time blek

[JcmdiStockFootage]

Indeed - some caterpillars have poisonous spines which can cause stings, itches, rashes, and even kill people who are especially allergic to them. :-O

[ShwamoRox787]

@JcmdiStockFootage that didnt help to much

[PicoPicoHammah]

ew look at it squirm...

[ChevyAdrian1]

lol for the moth at the end.... "YES I'M FREE BITCHES.. I'M... * looks at scientist* WTF WHO ARE YOU!?

[jcmegabyte]

...and then right after that:  "Where's the food? I'm starving!" XD

[skribbzo]

i wanted to see what it was up to after it crawled out

[jcmegabyte]

Closest thing I have to that online right now is a timelapse molting vid of the larvae when they are nearly full grown: v=AOx4lYZ_PAc

I have some more time lapse footage of these little guys crawling around and feeding right after they hatched, but I haven't got that online yet. Hopefully soon!

[Fernito69]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this :) Currently I have Polythysana Cinerascens eggs, they'll probably hatch soon.

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed - good luck with your birds, and do post some video if you can :-)

[Josheen100]

Nice music! and Video! =D

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out! =)

[zugurudumba]

OM NOM NOM

[mattplusone]

NOM

[MrBatata]

Hey , why won't you try growing a puss caterpillar moth?

:)

[jcmegabyte]

Well we don't have them here in CA (that I know of), but I hear they make great snacks! XD

[cashcheck619]

@jcmegabyte o_o lol

[killer2611]

i had a weird encounter with moths last night... 2 of them flew into my window so i tried to catch them and feed them to my bearded dragon.. and then they do something strange... they both started circleing my head... they were going so fast and so close that they bumped into my noise and ears a few times... then they released some dust and i breathed it an it made my neck and head fell weird.. then my body went all weak... is this some sort of defence system?

[jcmegabyte]

Moths don't have any toxic defense system like that, which I know of, but it could be that you are very allergic to the wing scales (the dust that comes off of them) if you had a reaction like that. Most people just sneeze if they breathe the scales, like with any other kind of dust. Moths usually fly in spirals if there is a bright light around (like at porch lights), since they normally fly at night and bright lights confuse their navigation ability. Hope you're feeling better now! :-)

[killer2611]

thats weird.. im not alergic to anything as far as i know.. well i caught the 2 moths and put them in a cage so i can research them more and watch what they do. oh and all the other moths if fed to my lizard never made me feel that way :S these moths seem very different then the rest i have seen..

[jcmegabyte]

Hmm. Might be worthwhile to take some good close-up pics if you can find any more of those moths, and see if they can be identified. I've had moths smack me in the face plenty of times and never had such a reaction either. Very odd.

[killer2611]

hey i still have both of them alive and ill probly take pictures of them or make a video

[jcmegabyte]

Cool - send me the link and I'll see if I can make an ID, or at least some rough idea. :-)

[AddictoEnvy]

I remember chewing my way through the egg.... Yuhhgck

[hottis13]

umm whats that in the egg?

[jcmegabyte]

Just a little caterpillar :-) Thanks for watching!

[hottis13]

mm :D okeii np

[gizmosapian]

a caterpillar dumbass

[hottis13]

U shouldent call me dumbaas

cose im not... a dumbass..

srry if im not american that i should know

what the fuck is CATErpilar ..

cose i bet u dont know what means ( pao ti oci ) even if u read it in diktionary book ..

[bigbadwolf3567]

u gonna kill it after that shit hatches right?

[KelleeAndBuck]

how long were they eggs for?

[jcmegabyte]

Only about 12-14 days as I recall. :-)

[KelleeAndBuck]

i have a pet tiger moth and she only just layed 30 or so eggs. i was wondering, what do i feed the babies and why is everyone saying about snakes, isnt the thing hatching a catapilla? lolaz

[jcmegabyte]

Tiger Moths eat lots of different stuff. Exactly what depends on what species you have. If you can identify the species online, you should be able to get a list of plants it likes. Try butterfliesandmoths . org for maps & species lists.

If you can't identify it, try a variety of plants (usually generic weeds) that grow around where you got the moth. Mallow (cheeseweed), dandelion, etc. might work. The caterpillars kind of look like snakes, but otherwise that's just a joke. :-)

[aran12345678]

How the f**k did you film that.

[jcmegabyte]

It's done with a microscope that has a built-in webcam. If you get the lighting just right, the image quality is pretty good. :-)

[pishposh321]

nice vid and where can u find them?

[jcmegabyte]

The easiest way to get Spinx Moth eggs is to catch a female and put her in a container with some of its host plant. This species is probably not found in your area, but I'm sure there are others.

In spring or summer you can usually find larger moths around large lights (parking lot, security, etc.) at night in or near wilderness areas.

You can find lots of info on raising caterpillars on my website (click the JCMDI banner). Good luck! :D

[keepthemusicplaying0]

Wonderful shots!!

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you liked! Thanks for watching and commenting :D

[Izilla08]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooooooooooook

[nintendo0master]

so mega cool

[cocoapuffaddict]

can we say: claustrophobia...

[jcmegabyte]

No kidding - that's really big worm, compared to the tiny space it's crammed into! :D

[dlindeman]

nice job post more

[jcmegabyte]

They're on the way! Thanks for watching/commenting :D

[squito94]

Question. Where did you get this egg from? What plant did you find it on?

[jcmegabyte]

The egg came directly from a female Pacific Green Sphinx. They eat Primerose and will lay eggs on the leaves in a paper bag.

If you have them in your area, they should be flying all through February - take a strong light (MV, UV, etc.) out at dusk for 1-2 hours and see if any come in. Use google to search for Primrose species native to your area, then go looking for the plants in Spring - that may help locate new populations of A. lucidus moths. :-)

[whathafrup]

ew.i aint really a insect or bug person

[crackerjack113]

looks like a lot of fun

[carpenoctem66]

Wow! thats a pretty small egg considering the larval form of a Sphinx moth is a Tomato Hornworm

[jcmegabyte]

Yea those things, like most Sphinx moths, turn into pythons nearly 4" long before they're fully grown!

[carpenoctem66]

lol! they're fun to hold though.

[6327isc]

Beautiful - The only phase I haven't gotten to. Hatching, that is - I've reared caterpillars at their second instar, but never from the egg - Out here, it is too rainy to even find many caterpillars alone - I often wait for the sunny days, otherwise I find small Geometers.

[jcmegabyte]

Easiest way to get eggs is to catch a gravid female. Most moths will happily oviposit in a closed paper bag during their normal ovipositing time of day/night - especially if some fresh host plant and a nectar source is included in the bag.

[6327isc]

Most moths I catch are male - I think I've only once caught a female, is there actually any good technique to doing so?

[jcmegabyte]

In most cases, catching females vs. males is a matter of luck. However, searching near large stands of host plants may increase your chances. Time of day/night and season can also matter, and varies between species. Females of many species don't fly until mated so chances are good if one flies in, it's ready to lay eggs.

[stepmanstep]

ew gross

[SunWooz]

wow they waste like half of their lives eating the eggs ... sad lil flies.

[jcmegabyte]

It looks that way in the video, but these things live about 6 weeks as caterpillars and grow to almost 4 inches long. They look like small pythons! My other video (YouTube ID=AOx4lYZ_PAc) shows them about half grown, shedding their skins.

[joshua61991]

wow that was such a small animal how did you even find it?!

[jcmegabyte]

A fellow Lepidopterist caught a female and got her to oviposit - so there were many eggs on-hand for this project. You can see these caterpillars molting in one of my other time lapse videos: AOx4lYZ_PAc

[vectrect]

Wow thats cool

[BlackRabbitofDeath]

eww ww ww ww ww ww ww ww ww ww ww

[trackman3030]

thats so cool

[Hadezul2]

Fascinating. Only thing is I didn't like the music. Electronic computery sounding stuff with something natural and organic just didn't go together IMHO. Brilliant photography though.

[kenamarin]

its so cute looking!!

[GreatMoviesForever]

scary

[bugvision]

what kind of microscope was that?

[flybikes90]

eww

[wiskwood]

cool

[kclama]

Very interesting, well done.