Caterpillar Molting Super Hi-Res HD Timelapse

[shin1300]

how long is the raw video?

[jcmegabyte]

This is only about 30 minutes-worth of real-time action, so the amount of timelapse speed-up is about 40x :-)

[madsharukh]

They must go through alot of pain during this process.

I mean you see those things start coming out and she/he is moving like she/he is in great torture. But i guess she really wants to be a caterpillar.

[jcmegabyte]

It does look like it could be painful, but somehow I think that by the time it's ready to molt, the skin is already "dead" and just hanging there. Molting it is probably like taking off a tight sweater! XD

[jcmegabyte]

That's a good question! Caterpillar skins don't grow as the caterpillar does, so each time it's old skin gets too tight, it has to make a new baggy one one under it's old skin. When the new one is "ready to wear", it molts the old tight skin, and continues gowing into the new baggy one. Caterpillars typically molt 4-6 times as they grow from the size of the tiny little egg, all the up to 4-inches long or more for larger butterflies and moths. Their growth is amazing :-) Thanks for watching!

[DisforDelight]

@,@ omg.. that was awesome !, HD makes it really outta this world .. lol.. thanks for posting !!! DisforDelight

[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how even the smallest things in nature can be really amazing when seen close-up and in HD! Thanks so much for the nice comment and all your attention :-)

[ewagreg]

AMAZING ..BEAUTIFUL video..super music ..NICE pictures ....FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for the view and great comment! :-)

[Pebbleprominent]

I love it when their heads pop off - seeing the skin fall off is great. The only thing is, some species such as Calliteara pudibunda (pale tussock) take so long to get ready for moulting

[jcmegabyte]

I've noticed that with a great many species. It's not always obvious, but most take at least 1-2 days sitting idle whilst preparing to molt. I guess it's a big deal to shed your skin! XD

[giulianopietra]

Your skill is not only in shooting but also in search of subjects.

Thanks for us .. dream

Giuliano

[jcmegabyte]

Such a nice comment - thank you very much! :-)

[runesick]

such a beautiful caterpillar! What's the name of it?

[jcmegabyte]

It is a White-Streaked Silkmoth caterpillar (Saturnia albofasciata) :-)

[runesick]

no wonder it looked familiar. Seems like your into them, you have a bunch of videos. Can't wait until your next White-Streaked video!

[64mung]

I just love watching this stuff, it's simply amazing!

Keep up the great photography, jcm :)

*****

64m >:-)

Btw..my kids are fascinated by your timelapse nature videos too..especially my youngest son. (he's a bug collector)

[jcmegabyte]

That's cool that your kids get to see this stuff! When I first started out chasing/collecting bugs (at about 6 years old) there was nothing like this anywhere - they only way to see much of anything was to go out and catch and/or and rear the little buggers yourself. ...and of course timelapse documentary was not available, either. :-)

[64mung]

Yea, it is cool, your videos really spark their interest in nature.

You're a great educator, jmc!

Thanks :)

64mung house >:-)

[donchisciotte62]

WOW!! it looks like and hard work! ^_^

donni

[jcmegabyte]

It seems like just about everything these bugs do takes a lot of effort! Thanks for watching the show :-)

[KettoShi]

How cute ! I really love your vids and quality is exellent

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching and the great comment! Glad you are enjoying these :-)

[newmediaformat]

This is pretty cool footage.  Amazing detail and a little unnerving to watch. Gives me the creepy crawlies. : ) *****

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed! In full-screen HD, it's a monster! XD

Thanks for watching and not running away! :-)

[GeraldBoyClassical]

That is one scary looking caterpillar! I'm assuming the hairs aren't really poisonous, but they sure look both poisonous and sharp!

[jcmegabyte]

They are very ornate, aren't they? This caterpillar DOES have small, stinging spines, but the sting is moderate at best, and most of the hairs and spines you see are just for "show", and perhaps to break up the caterpillars shape so that predators have a harder time distinguishing it from its surroundings as something to eat.

In this vid, I show some super macro shots of the stinging spines:

29PL9Okgugs

Enjoy! :-)

[conejolua]

excellent work

Best regards

Raul ...

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks again, Raul! :-)

[Austenmad24]

Beautiful just Beautiful! :)

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much!  =D

[jmedia1]

Fascinating!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! :-)

[MonsunFilmatorium]

Impressive and time-taking. Awesome video and cool music :)

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! =D

[bagwhanbill]

cool pro video cheers

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you could stop by - thanks! :-)

[ronaldsmusicfactory]

that was really cool

[jcmegabyte]

Tanks for checking it out! :-)