Sphinx Moth Caterpillars Shed in Time-Lapse

[marioptera]

I find your videos very enlightening. Incidentally, this is one of my favourite species and unfortunately, one i could never find in the wild (my home location does not help much either). Congratulations for managing to induce pupation and adult eclosion in a difficult species.

[LibraLovesFaVs]

Very cool! :o)

[nodollarsign]

so cute!



[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so stopping by!  :-)

[Smozi]

Nature is a beautiful and disgusting thing.

[jcmegabyte]

Ironic, isn't it?! Thanks for stopping by!  :-)

[jcmegabyte]

Ironic, isn't it?! Thanks for stopping by!  :-)

[AStandsForFrench]

Dawwwww,

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out! =)

[Zanmatt2g]

How big are they?

[jcmegabyte]

In this vid they were about 1.75 inches long. They eventually grew to nearly 3 inches before burrowing underground to pupate. Thanks for watching! :-)

[mirptwirp]

What is that thing on the 2nd one? A stinger?!

[jcmegabyte]

It's only a harmless tail, but I'm sure it's meant to look like a stinger to scare predators! :-)  Thanks for stopping by!

[hurricanejones1]

The music is particularly lovely and enhanses the eerie beauty of the shedding. Will these become full grown moths and fly?

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed they will. I think this is the last molt before they pupate. You can see the whole documentary following these moths through to adult moths on my website. I'll post the link to the specific page in the vid details for you. :-)

[hurricanejones1]

@jcmegabyte When they mature, do you still keep them to continue the process or let them go and feel...sad?

[jcmegabyte]

Sometimes I keep adults to start a new generation; the White Streaked Silkmoth being one example of my specialty species, which I have reared and studied for several years. Other species I give or trade away (usually as pupae) to other bug enthusiasts so they can enjoy the emerging and perhaps rear their own broods, but in any case I consider letting go the excess adults a success, never a sad experience. =)

[hurricanejones1]

@jcmegabyte Very cool and selective...are there adult videos of butterflies?

Don't get into cats

[jcmegabyte]

I have a LOT of adult butterfly and moth emerging/wing expanding videos, and a lesser amount of adults in the wild - those are much harder to get... Here are a few:

v=y54_Du9ZE8I

v=H9OYzUx4SFg

v=ibAZ-VvDKUo

v=zeXTK1kpHlo

=)

[Pebbleprominent]

Cool

[Joshluver1234]

yea i reared a couple milkweed tussock moths without knowing it (: i had brought some milkweed home for my monarchs that i raise every year and apparently. Do you think that you could rear some and send me the video on the full life cycle...i want to find out how long they pupate for.\

-Morgan <3

[Automeris]

Great video and beautiful larvae I want some stock of some of those because I also rear moths, specializing in sat's and sphingids.

[jcmegabyte]

I've only reared these once (more into Sats than Sphingids). A friend brought me the eggs for this one. The worms get really huge for such small adults... I was calling them Pythons at one point!

[BIadecries]

so cute xDD little..?

[jcmegabyte]

I guess it depends on your point of view! XD Thanks for watching :-)

[Zephyrlicious]

I say one and when i poked it it whip blashed, is this normal

[jcmegabyte]

Yes - that's a defensive movement that's supposed to scare you. The tail is harmless though :-)

[Zephyrlicious]

is that a stingger on the back? i saw a green one that looked like that and it hade a stinnger to

[jcmegabyte]

It looks like a stinger but it's really just a tail that's designed to scare you into thinking it can sting. It's quite harmless :-)

[sean68642]

Hey, its me again. Can I put a Feamale Spinix Moth in a Cage to Call for Males Like the Saturniidae Moths I had.

[jcmegabyte]

Yes, you can. Most female moths that I know of use a pheromone to attract males. They usually scent overnight so depending on the species, you may have to stay up late to catch the males or use some sort of a trap to catch them.

Good luck!

[SteveCarras]

Thanks! (I write the music myself) :D I guess the real secret to seeing (and "filming") this stuff is to just do a ton of it, and keep it all right in front of my face (with camera at the ready) while I do other things. I miss plenty of events, but the odds that I'll catch at least a couple of them are in my favor! '

Wow, Megabyte, you write the music..?!

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed I do. I've been writing and recording my own music since the early 80's. My website has all the details about my music and bugs (JCMDI). ..A couple of my hobbies that seem to go well together now that we have multi-media outlets to share them on. :D

[destroyahdes]

Wow that's great!! I've never seen a shedding like that. I raise the Five Spotted Sphinx when I find them, better known as tobacco hornworms. They are so amazing in their adult form.

[jcmegabyte]

Most Lep larvae shed their skins much like this but unless you're watching at just the right time it's easy to miss. It helps to raise a TON of them to increase your odds. Definitely amazing - especially in time lapse. Thanks for watching! :D

[destroyahdes]

Yeah I worked in a buttefly garden for four years and raised caterpillars but always missed the shedding. Even of the ones in my own home. :( No prob. Wow I see your a butterfly expert after looking at your main page. Love the music on this btw.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks! (I write the music myself) :D I guess the real secret to seeing (and "filming") this stuff is to just do a ton of it, and keep it all right in front of my face (with camera at the ready) while I do other things. I miss plenty of events, but the odds that I'll catch at least a couple of them are in my favor!

[destroyahdes]

Oh wow! You wrote your own music too? That's excellent. I'm an artist but can't imagine how hard writing music must be. I like your videos so I'll sub to you.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks - much appreciated! :D

[6327isc]

I've actually seen common Noctua Pronuba go under final instar molting, but that part where the caterpillar "spits" out the extra, I've never heard of. What is going on there?

[jcmegabyte]

The only other thing the caterpillar sheds besides its skin is its old head capsule. Just like the skin, the capsule doesn't grow and has to be discarded after the new one forms under it. Sometimes it sticks to the new, soft head capsule during the molt, until the larva can shake it loose.

[rayywang]

nice. where do you get your leps from?

[jcmegabyte]

Most all of my bugs are collected locally. These Pacific Green Sphinx larvae came from the eggs of a female, which was caught at a UV light and sheet near my house.

[W2daERN]

at the end one is sniffing the other's butt

[bcmf130]

amazing man!

how do you do that, i mean, what equipment do you need, any special digital camera whith such "time lapse" feature?

[jcmegabyte]

I haven't found a digital camera that does actual frame-by-frame time lapse automatically. So, I use a JVC mini DV camcorder, then capture images on PC via firewire at 1 sec to 5 sec intervals. Then I reassemble the captured JPG images into an AVI, and produce the video from there. It's really a lot of effort, and I'm limited to 90 minutes of run time per tape. Changing the tape usually means a break in the action and camera angle.

[Snoylnoj]

little fookers didnt even make thier beds! lol. great vid

[sigma1920]

Fantastic!

I like the part when its face mask came off.