Yes. I have already done searching of eggs with our temperatures going from the 60's during the day and 45 or so at nigh tot mid 70's during the day and 57 ish at night. So far, I've only found geometer eggs. I'll be moving to Ohio in April... leaving behind the longer seasons here, and some of the species I won't see again. Hopefully, I'll enjoy the process as much there as I have here. :) Is there a particular species you'd like to rear from here?
I don't even know if we have that particular species of moth. I'll have to check Wagner's book. But still, I am jealous. LOL We have Pinon Pine, but can't say I have searched a lot of them for critters. I will be soon though. I found some eggs the other day that hatched yesterday into geometers. So apparently, things are still flying. Of course, our temperatures are starting to go back up. High 60's during the day today with 40's at night. Maybe I'll find some in the next month. :)
I think all the Coloradia species are found in the western US, west of the great plains... You do however, have some great Saturniidae in the southeast that we don't have here... I guess we just have to envy each other's bugs! XD Spring species usually get started failry early here, even though it's still winter and mostly cool. I've seen Orange Tips on the wing as early as late January, with overnight temps in the upper 30s at night and rarely up to 70 during the day. :-)
This species has an especially cool pink haze over the hindwings, and bright yellow antennae. The larvae are an interesting creamy-white color, too. They are easy to rear, if one has a good supply of Pinon Pine :-)
Wow, going up into the mountains and catching their eggs ... and then waiting a year; that's dedication.
Really cool video, I'm a fan of time lapse for anything pretty much - but animals always seem to provide the best ones. What was the substance that it was trailing 00:35 - 00:43? Thanks for sharing this!
Some of these life cycle vids really do take a lot of work and effort - thanks for watching! :-) The fluid the moth is releasing is "meconium", basically leftover fluids from the pupation process that are no longer needed. Cheers! :-)
The brown-colored case is called a pupal shell or pupal case, and is the hardened skin that was left exposed after the caterpillar molted during pupation. With butterflies, the shell is called a "Chrysalis", but is the same thing.
Butterflies pupate right out in the open, with only that pupal shell as protection. Most moths spin a silken cocoon around themselves before pupating inside it. Some species go underground while others use foliage or leaf debris as part of the cocoon. :-)
I can't tell you how much I appreciate people like you posting these wonderful videos. I adore moths- they're my absolute favorite animal. They are sorely underappreciated.
...and it's surprising how many people have irrational fears of them too - surprising since they are so similar and closely related to butterflies which few people have problem with and everybody seems to love! Anyway, glad to hear you enjoying my work :-) Cheers and thanks for the nice comment!
@LurkerLizzy1924 ah well...i'm 2 metters tall and pretty solid/spory, but i am affraid of bugs :)) spiders are my biggest fear...or centipedes..or anything with too many legs...months are nice but i'm affraid of them too like thay are hairy and not ugly but erm.. strange shaped..how comes you are not affraid of them?
With this species not only are they normally in a cocoon, but they also burrow underground, so they have to claw their way out of the cocoon and then make it up to the surface. Tough little bugs! :-)
I have this one in my collection. No, I didn't kill it. I found it upside down on the pavement. It doesn't seem right to leave such a beautiful creature to be trampled or crushed.
Not surprising that you would find one just lying there dead... This family of moths (family Saturniidae) does not eat as adults, so they only have a few days-worth of "fuel" which they store as fat when they are caterpillars. So, they have to mate and lay eggs quickly befor they run out of gas!
this has to be my favourite video of yours! i almost thought the top of the cacoon would never come of it's head, but than i was glad it did (: it must be really fun to do what you do!
Thanks for watcnig this and the nice comment! Indeed, doing these documentaries is very interesting - I've seen and learned things I probably would never have otherwise, and hopefully I've bought to the world stuff that's never been seen before. :-)
It's known as "Meconium" - a left-over waste fluid from the metamorphosis process. I'm not sure if it's part of the "juice" used to pump-up their wings or if that fluid comes from a different reservior. =)
To get this species was somewhat of an adventure... I had to take a 175watt mercury vapor light up into the San Bernardino Mts. at the right time of year, and lure-in a gravid female, then get her to lay eggs in a small cage. I raised these moths from the caterpillars that hatched from those eggs. It took roughly 1 year to complete the whole life cycle and get these shots . :-)
There are probably more species around than you see, but usually you have to go look for them - many only fly in certain places and habitats. In order to find so many species like I have, I travel 10 - 200 miles away from home to get to the right kinds of places to find them. Locating the right places at the right times to find them is quite an adventure sometimes! :-)
They're actually all compacted, like you said. The moth pumps a clear-ish fluid into them to expand them to full size. Once that fluid dries and hardens, they become stiff and the moth can fly. :-)
I was finally able to watch this particular moth. Though to be honest, I was still ready to hit that stop button and change "scenes." I've never seen a moth that was so hairy! I guess they are indigenous in areas that are really cold? Great footage! Thanks.
I'm glad you were able to get through this one! Nearly all moths are hairier than butterflies probably due to the cold temperatures they endure at night. Those hairs are actually long thin scales, similar to those on the wings.
Interestingly, moths are not warm-blooded but are endothermic and can generate their own warmth by vibrating their wing muscles. They can't fly unless they're warm enough, so many moths shake and vibrate to warm up for flight! Very interesting critters :-)
It probably was at one time, but by the time the bug is fully developed it's probably had all the nutitional elements removed from it and it probably not useful to the bug any longer at that point.
This species is about 2" across, with its wings open. I would call it a "medium" sized silkmoth. The close-up view could be making it look larger than it really is, since there aren't many objects in the frame for scale. Thanks for watching :-)
yeah I think it's something to do with the fear that they'll fly into a facial oraphace or get trapped in clothing or something. Almost irrational, lol
Yea, a lot of people are freaked out by moths, and other buzzing/flapping things with fuzz and lotsa legs - just keep that window screen securely in place! =D
wow thats cool, I didnt knew that it also pupate inside the cacoon. I have currently 2 cacoon at my place and almost 16 days but they have not emerged I dont know why? By the way what camera gears do you use to shoot time lapse? I use my Comp and stop motion software and My Panasonic MiniDV cam. will show you 1 video of caterpillar making cacoon would love to have your response on it.
I look forward to seeing your video - definitely send it to me when it's done. :-)
I'm using a couple of JVD MiniDV camcorders with PC frame capture wsoftware, plus a Canon 5S-is, various other softwares, and some of my older stuff was even done with a webcam and PC screen capture software!
Depending on what species of bug you have, and temperature and humidity levels, it could emerge right away of not for several years. Do you know what species you have?
Much safer to watch them on screen! hahaha You would have to outrun the crowd - lotsa people a creeped out by moths - must be all those hairy legs and big bulging eyes! XD
aaahahahaha XD Great comment - and really good advice for any larva! Well it's too bad you're camera-less... I would have liked to see that White do its thing. :D
It's extra fluids (correctly called "miconium"), left over from the metamorphosis process, but not needed for the rest of its adult life. Weird little critters! Thanks for watching/commenting :D
Yea these guys are pretty clumbsy. It probably also doesn't help that this guy would normally be underground in a pupal chamber, which might help him to shed the pupal shell better than being out in the open. :D
In nature, this species burrows into soft earth and spins a very light webbing around itself to hold the pupal chamber in place. While I've never observed one eclosing from an underground cocoon, I'd expect the friction with the ground and webbing as it crawled to the surface would help it shed the shell.
Wow, that makes me really impatient of my own pupae - I, though, do not have one like that. The interesting thing is, I've never heard of such moth. It resembles so much a Hemileuca, though. My own specimens are simple locals, such as the Lophocampa maculata(had it since a caterpillar, now awaiting its spring emergence), a Pyralid pupa (it was luck to find one soo tiny) and an unknown Noctuid pupa, along with five Isabella Arctiid caterpillars.
Coloradia velda is a Saturniidae moth, closely realted to the infamous Pandora Moth, Coloradia pandora, renouned for defoliating pine forests in some years during large outbreaks.
I guess the secret is to raise a LOT of them and learn their traits. This species overwinters as a pupa and takes about 6 weeks to develop after removal from the refrigerator. The pupal shell gets very soft 1-2 days before they emerge. Emerging usually happens about 2 hours after sun-up, so in the morning I keep the soft ones on my desk with a camera rolling. :)
Note - once the pupa is ready to emerge (soft shell) many species emerge a certain number of hours after sun-up or sun-down. Carefully controlling light exposure will result in emerging more-or-less when you want them to! :) OK, the secret is out!
The juice is extra fluid (waste) used during metamorphosis, and is basically "dumped" after emerging. The moth retains some fluid for pumping into the wings to expand them. The adult moth has no digestive system and can't eat, so it survives solely on the body fat it stored as a caterpillar the previous year. Cool, eh?
My bad.. your Venonat evolved into Venomoth!!!!
ZeroX1803 5 months ago
Thanks for checking it out! =)
jcmegabyte 5 months ago
is it deadly?
586lilkiller 6 months ago
Not at all - just looks like a hairy spider with wings :-)
jcmegabyte 6 months ago
it shat in it lelf.....laxitives?
waterking271 9 months ago
That's all the waste fluid (called meconium) it didn't use during metamorphosis... It was saving it up for several months! :-O
jcmegabyte 9 months ago
looks like evolution of pokemon :) amazing, but grose too, i'm scarred of insects :(
runeskypex 9 months ago
The Pokemon were indeed styled after insect life cycles.... thanks for checking it out! =)
jcmegabyte 9 months ago
What was the brown liquid he was spitting..or something
chelseachil 10 months ago
@chelseachil its blood
marckid93 3 months ago
I know nothing about moths, but that has to be the most creepy and beautiful thing I've ever seen.
VampBanshee 1 year ago 3
That's definitely how nature is sometimes - creepy and amazing at the same time! Thanks for stopping by :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Yes. I have already done searching of eggs with our temperatures going from the 60's during the day and 45 or so at nigh tot mid 70's during the day and 57 ish at night. So far, I've only found geometer eggs. I'll be moving to Ohio in April... leaving behind the longer seasons here, and some of the species I won't see again. Hopefully, I'll enjoy the process as much there as I have here. :) Is there a particular species you'd like to rear from here?
TheLoveofButterfles 1 year ago
I don't even know if we have that particular species of moth. I'll have to check Wagner's book. But still, I am jealous. LOL We have Pinon Pine, but can't say I have searched a lot of them for critters. I will be soon though. I found some eggs the other day that hatched yesterday into geometers. So apparently, things are still flying. Of course, our temperatures are starting to go back up. High 60's during the day today with 40's at night. Maybe I'll find some in the next month. :)
TheLoveofButterfles 1 year ago
I think all the Coloradia species are found in the western US, west of the great plains... You do however, have some great Saturniidae in the southeast that we don't have here... I guess we just have to envy each other's bugs! XD Spring species usually get started failry early here, even though it's still winter and mostly cool. I've seen Orange Tips on the wing as early as late January, with overnight temps in the upper 30s at night and rarely up to 70 during the day. :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Gorgeous~!! You know I love them all though. LOL
TheLoveofButterfles 1 year ago
This species has an especially cool pink haze over the hindwings, and bright yellow antennae. The larvae are an interesting creamy-white color, too. They are easy to rear, if one has a good supply of Pinon Pine :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
i thought it was a worm///
solidad56 1 year ago
Awesome JC!! I have to see those wings again!
DD2221983 1 year ago
Thanks so much for stopping by - glad you enjoyed the show :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
It is pretty amazing what they have to go through to make it all the way to the adult stage! :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Excellent video ;)
supercellstorm 1 year ago
Thanks so much! =)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
i love your videos
manuellazaro29 1 year ago
I'm glad you're enjoying the show! Thanks so much for the visit and kind words :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
That's "meconium" - the left-over juices that were not used during the metamorphosis process.
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Hahahah yea - the pattern does look somewhat like a helmet! XD
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Wow, going up into the mountains and catching their eggs ... and then waiting a year; that's dedication.
Really cool video, I'm a fan of time lapse for anything pretty much - but animals always seem to provide the best ones. What was the substance that it was trailing 00:35 - 00:43? Thanks for sharing this!
beantownkid38 1 year ago
Some of these life cycle vids really do take a lot of work and effort - thanks for watching! :-) The fluid the moth is releasing is "meconium", basically leftover fluids from the pupation process that are no longer needed. Cheers! :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
Check out this video of a moth's life cycle: v=bIhlj3ZMxqg
...you can see the moth first spin its cocoon, and then via cut-away view, watch the pupation process.
Then see this vid: v=u2cE86AA1q0
This Swallowtail Butterfly attaches itself to the twig using silk, and then pupates right out in the open.. :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
The brown-colored case is called a pupal shell or pupal case, and is the hardened skin that was left exposed after the caterpillar molted during pupation. With butterflies, the shell is called a "Chrysalis", but is the same thing.
Butterflies pupate right out in the open, with only that pupal shell as protection. Most moths spin a silken cocoon around themselves before pupating inside it. Some species go underground while others use foliage or leaf debris as part of the cocoon. :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
I can't tell you how much I appreciate people like you posting these wonderful videos. I adore moths- they're my absolute favorite animal. They are sorely underappreciated.
LurkerLizzy1924 1 year ago 5
...and it's surprising how many people have irrational fears of them too - surprising since they are so similar and closely related to butterflies which few people have problem with and everybody seems to love! Anyway, glad to hear you enjoying my work :-) Cheers and thanks for the nice comment!
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
@LurkerLizzy1924 ah well...i'm 2 metters tall and pretty solid/spory, but i am affraid of bugs :)) spiders are my biggest fear...or centipedes..or anything with too many legs...months are nice but i'm affraid of them too like thay are hairy and not ugly but erm.. strange shaped..how comes you are not affraid of them?
runeskypex 9 months ago
With this species not only are they normally in a cocoon, but they also burrow underground, so they have to claw their way out of the cocoon and then make it up to the surface. Tough little bugs! :-)
jcmegabyte 1 year ago
wicked video dude.
bobothehobo123 2 years ago
Thanks for checking it out!
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
This one for sure is really nice.
I have this one in my collection. No, I didn't kill it. I found it upside down on the pavement. It doesn't seem right to leave such a beautiful creature to be trampled or crushed.
Thanks so much for sharing such beauties.
2darbit 2 years ago
Not surprising that you would find one just lying there dead... This family of moths (family Saturniidae) does not eat as adults, so they only have a few days-worth of "fuel" which they store as fat when they are caterpillars. So, they have to mate and lay eggs quickly befor they run out of gas!
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
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WHAT IS THIS
nice video
Baltasa111 2 years ago
this has to be my favourite video of yours! i almost thought the top of the cacoon would never come of it's head, but than i was glad it did (: it must be really fun to do what you do!
larxene07 2 years ago
Thanks for watcnig this and the nice comment! Indeed, doing these documentaries is very interesting - I've seen and learned things I probably would never have otherwise, and hopefully I've bought to the world stuff that's never been seen before. :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
Man Thats cute as hell But im still puzzled about what was leaking out of him when he was getting out
dudey7ftw 2 years ago
It's known as "Meconium" - a left-over waste fluid from the metamorphosis process. I'm not sure if it's part of the "juice" used to pump-up their wings or if that fluid comes from a different reservior. =)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
wow moths are so cool. how did you get the catapillars?? you raise them or something?
InALoveTrance 2 years ago
To get this species was somewhat of an adventure... I had to take a 175watt mercury vapor light up into the San Bernardino Mts. at the right time of year, and lure-in a gravid female, then get her to lay eggs in a small cage. I raised these moths from the caterpillars that hatched from those eggs. It took roughly 1 year to complete the whole life cycle and get these shots . :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
i wish i live on place like you do .. i love insect but in my country (czech republic) there are not many kinds of them :(
PigLvl3 2 years ago
There are probably more species around than you see, but usually you have to go look for them - many only fly in certain places and habitats. In order to find so many species like I have, I travel 10 - 200 miles away from home to get to the right kinds of places to find them. Locating the right places at the right times to find them is quite an adventure sometimes! :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
I loved this vid. but what was the liquid that came out of its...butt?
NarutoxDiego 2 years ago
It's so neat to see the completion of adult moth from such a helpless creature.
Automeris 2 years ago
Indeed this is one of the lucky ones to get all the way through! :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
....
MultiUberguy 2 years ago
They're actually all compacted, like you said. The moth pumps a clear-ish fluid into them to expand them to full size. Once that fluid dries and hardens, they become stiff and the moth can fly. :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
cool vid - I always love nature stuff - its like its saying "get this dang thing off of me!" LOL
crazychica1972 2 years ago
It definitely looked a bit frustrated trying to get that shell off! Thanks for watching :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
I was finally able to watch this particular moth. Though to be honest, I was still ready to hit that stop button and change "scenes." I've never seen a moth that was so hairy! I guess they are indigenous in areas that are really cold? Great footage! Thanks.
kaoritubes 2 years ago
I'm glad you were able to get through this one! Nearly all moths are hairier than butterflies probably due to the cold temperatures they endure at night. Those hairs are actually long thin scales, similar to those on the wings.
Interestingly, moths are not warm-blooded but are endothermic and can generate their own warmth by vibrating their wing muscles. They can't fly unless they're warm enough, so many moths shake and vibrate to warm up for flight! Very interesting critters :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
OMG!!! I've just saw some people eating these beautiful creature last Friday!!!
bliooild 2 years ago
Euw! Hahaha XD I think I'd rather have something a little less hairy! :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
Well, not the emerged moth but the pupa with the moth in it! I saw it when i was in a Chinese restaurant. Deep fried!!!
bliooild 2 years ago
that was magical
welcomegohome 2 years ago
Glad you enjoyed - thanks so much for watching :-)
jcmegabyte 2 years ago
can u explain the thing it was leaking from behind.?
uh3xiizdan 3 years ago
That's "meconium" which is basically all the juice the bug didn't use during the metamorphosis process.
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
is meconium like nutrition that the bug needs to evolve?
uh3xiizdan 3 years ago
It probably was at one time, but by the time the bug is fully developed it's probably had all the nutitional elements removed from it and it probably not useful to the bug any longer at that point.
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
ooo i see....thx for sharing
uh3xiizdan 3 years ago
wow, thats alot bigger than the moths i've seen, or is that just bigger by perspective?
killa6190 3 years ago
This species is about 2" across, with its wings open. I would call it a "medium" sized silkmoth. The close-up view could be making it look larger than it really is, since there aren't many objects in the frame for scale. Thanks for watching :-)
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
yeah I think it's something to do with the fear that they'll fly into a facial oraphace or get trapped in clothing or something. Almost irrational, lol
Mindjuggle 3 years ago
If that thing flew though my bedroom window I'd probably have a heart attack.
Mindjuggle 3 years ago
Yea, a lot of people are freaked out by moths, and other buzzing/flapping things with fuzz and lotsa legs - just keep that window screen securely in place! =D
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
why is there blood comming out of its ass
zenny24 3 years ago
It's actually "meconium", a fluid waste left over from the metamorphosis process.
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
omg, i'm so scared of butterfly's.
this was horrible for me :/
Allilito 3 years ago
Definitely not a good one to watch, for butterfly and moth-a-phobes. :| Try my sky time lapses - they should be a little safer for you :D
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
wow thats cool, I didnt knew that it also pupate inside the cacoon. I have currently 2 cacoon at my place and almost 16 days but they have not emerged I dont know why? By the way what camera gears do you use to shoot time lapse? I use my Comp and stop motion software and My Panasonic MiniDV cam. will show you 1 video of caterpillar making cacoon would love to have your response on it.
hitmoments19 3 years ago
I look forward to seeing your video - definitely send it to me when it's done. :-)
I'm using a couple of JVD MiniDV camcorders with PC frame capture wsoftware, plus a Canon 5S-is, various other softwares, and some of my older stuff was even done with a webcam and PC screen capture software!
Depending on what species of bug you have, and temperature and humidity levels, it could emerge right away of not for several years. Do you know what species you have?
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
He's so fluffy! cute lil thing, though if one came near me, I'd run screaming. All moths are out to make me go insane T.T
LADYfreshhh13 3 years ago
Much safer to watch them on screen! hahaha You would have to outrun the crowd - lotsa people a creeped out by moths - must be all those hairy legs and big bulging eyes! XD
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
Aww. Cute little defective fella. If moths could talk ...
"Note to self: NEVER have curry before pupating ..."
Lol. <333 I have a large white at the moment and he's pupating. :)
TheLilBlackpaw 3 years ago
aaahahahaha XD Great comment - and really good advice for any larva! Well it's too bad you're camera-less... I would have liked to see that White do its thing. :D
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
and that fat ass is able to fly? wow...
jurjan 3 years ago
THAT WAS CRAZY!
What was it pooping out everywhere??
But when it's wings unfolded, I screamed random WTF?!?!? words...
RaveSkitty 3 years ago
It's extra fluids (correctly called "miconium"), left over from the metamorphosis process, but not needed for the rest of its adult life. Weird little critters! Thanks for watching/commenting :D
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
it looks like its going to destroy the earth
Enum995 3 years ago
It's hard to imagine squishing one of these after watching a video like this.
All those intricate movements and processes in this one fuzzy package. Millions of years of evolving and changing; trying to better itself.
soursimon 3 years ago
yeah thats true
Datsexydiva2006 3 years ago
not as graceful as the last one i watched..
Tyranitar635 3 years ago
Yea these guys are pretty clumbsy. It probably also doesn't help that this guy would normally be underground in a pupal chamber, which might help him to shed the pupal shell better than being out in the open. :D
jcmegabyte 3 years ago
Great video? Is that a typical emergence? Or is there a cocoon in nature that helps to shed the pupal "skin"?
lepidopterist101 4 years ago
In nature, this species burrows into soft earth and spins a very light webbing around itself to hold the pupal chamber in place. While I've never observed one eclosing from an underground cocoon, I'd expect the friction with the ground and webbing as it crawled to the surface would help it shed the shell.
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
whats the stuff coming out of it
REGIFISHY 4 years ago
Basically, it's moth slime - unused excess liquid, leftover from metamophosis. Sceintifically, it's calld Meconium.
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
oh \^-^/ thanks I have been trying to figure that out for a while now
REGIFISHY 4 years ago
Wow, that makes me really impatient of my own pupae - I, though, do not have one like that. The interesting thing is, I've never heard of such moth. It resembles so much a Hemileuca, though. My own specimens are simple locals, such as the Lophocampa maculata(had it since a caterpillar, now awaiting its spring emergence), a Pyralid pupa (it was luck to find one soo tiny) and an unknown Noctuid pupa, along with five Isabella Arctiid caterpillars.
6327isc 4 years ago
Coloradia velda is a Saturniidae moth, closely realted to the infamous Pandora Moth, Coloradia pandora, renouned for defoliating pine forests in some years during large outbreaks.
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
Excellent! Excellent! I enjoyed it very much. Thanks.
bmoisset 4 years ago
If we would've learned about stuff like this in my science classes, I would've gotten better grades in school.
BB76USA 4 years ago 8
No kidding! Science is my absolute favorite subject but in school the "mass education" science classes (like most other subjects) put me to sleep.
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
how do you know the sign of emergence? i am curious.
or do you somehow induce them to emerge under your eyes?
or do you count days from pupation?
last week, i missed seeing the eclosion of my moth pupa (Monema flavescens) again....
sigma1920 4 years ago
I guess the secret is to raise a LOT of them and learn their traits. This species overwinters as a pupa and takes about 6 weeks to develop after removal from the refrigerator. The pupal shell gets very soft 1-2 days before they emerge. Emerging usually happens about 2 hours after sun-up, so in the morning I keep the soft ones on my desk with a camera rolling. :)
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
breathtaking, as always. bravo!
how do you know the sign of emergence? i am curious.
or do you somehow induce them to emerge under your eyes?
or do you count days from pupation?
last week, i missed seeing the eclosion of my moth pupa (Monema flavescens) again....
sigma1920 4 years ago
Note - once the pupa is ready to emerge (soft shell) many species emerge a certain number of hours after sun-up or sun-down. Carefully controlling light exposure will result in emerging more-or-less when you want them to! :) OK, the secret is out!
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
oops, i posted same msgs twice, pardon.
and wow! thank you soooooooo much for divulging your top secret!
i take my hat off to your tremendous effort.
sigma1920 4 years ago
Amazing!!! Thanks for sharing.
michellekate 4 years ago
In the words of my daughter, "That's beautiful!"
rayywang 4 years ago 2
The juice is extra fluid (waste) used during metamorphosis, and is basically "dumped" after emerging. The moth retains some fluid for pumping into the wings to expand them. The adult moth has no digestive system and can't eat, so it survives solely on the body fat it stored as a caterpillar the previous year. Cool, eh?
jcmegabyte 4 years ago
Wee!! That is awesome!
I've never seen anything like that so I had to watch...
I've recently gotten addicted to bugs.. I think they're really cute, actually....
Praying mantises.. <3
RaveSkitty 3 years ago