Giant Silkmoth Emerges/Expands Wings Realtime/Timelapse

[madde751]

I have a silk moth pupae I think I have a red one

[lilwaynerocksnigs]

how do u get one?

[jcmegabyte]

@lilwaynerocksnigs You might try visiting (Google for) "world's largest saturniidae site" ...they sell cocoons of wild silkmoths for emerging/rearing at home. Cheers!

[Eushawn20]

the wings were cool but the legs kind of creeped me out

[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how much they look like tarantulas without their big, showy wings! XD Thanks a bunch for vsiting =)

[PennyTraition]

I reared H.Cecropia when I was a young girl, but had problems with the larvae (not with the wonderful imago) when I reared them again afew years ago. I know Hyalophora will hybridise, like the Philosamia and Antheraea species. I would've liked to have tried A.Pernyi with A.Mylitta...don't know if it would be an easy pairing though...

Thankyou for the upload, your time-lapse photography is stunning, do you make the videos available to experts ? I think they would be found invaluable.

[jcmegabyte]

Hyalophora larvae can indeed be tricky to rear, although I've found that keeping them warm and dry really helps.

I post most of my work online for free (non-profit0 and commercial use as stock footage. I've also produced 2 DVD collections of my YouTube vids in higher-quality (all of which you can see on my website). I know of many teachers who use my vids directly from YouTube for classroom instruction as well. I'm glad my work is being enjoyed by so many others :-)

[Mepysto]

0:01

[TheLoveofButterfles]

Is this a Cecropia? It looks like one or a Glover's?

Amazing video... STUNNING!

[jcmegabyte]

Close :-) This moth (Hyalophora euryalus) is from the same genus as Cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia) , and in fact can be cross-bred with them, as well as H. columbia and H. columbia gloveri. This species was one of the first I ever reared (as a kid) and it got me hooked on the whole process of raising my own bugs for study. The whole genus is quite a treat to rear :-)

[Robloxmaker2313]

LOL big butt

[d4rk4knight]

hmmmm....

Frying pan- check

Stove set to High - check

moth...- check

*SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLEE SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS­SSSSSSSSSSS*

YUM

[jcmegabyte]

In some countries, these bugs (especialy the caterpillars) are definitely on the menu, so your comment is probably making some viewers hungry right now! XD

[d4rk4knight]

@jcmegabyte O__O

EW!

well.. i'd like to try! :D

[fuze54]

that was cool but it also kinda creeped me out. nothing against bugs but yea, they just kinda creep me out, still thumbs up though.

[jcmegabyte]

Interestingly, most insects are basically little monsters, with weird shapes and life phases - not surprising that many horror movie monsters are fashioned after them! Cool but creepy! :-)

[tman1151]

shake that ass lol jk it is like opening biscuits lol

[jcmegabyte]

That wing expansion does sorta look like pop'n'fresh! XD

[tman1151]

@jcmegabyte lmao true! xD hahahahahahahaha rofl copter

[zack31595]

dam thos wings just come tite out!!

[jcmegabyte]

These giant silkmoths have some of the most impressive wing-expansion ratios... so much wing packed into such a small package! Thanks for checking it out! :-)

[Tristanapp4]

Do you find all these Giant Silk Moths in your area where you live,or do you buy them from breeder?

[jcmegabyte]

This species (Hyalophora euryalus) flies here locally in the mountains around Santa Clarita - I can usually get them at collecting lights in the National Forest in March. Once I catch a female and rear her eggs, it's easy to rear subsequent generation in captivity. :-)

[Pebbleprominent]

Me again - I've found a setting on my camera which allows me to do time-lapses, so I've tried to do a few of my own. I have one of a Death's head hawkmoth (I think in America they are called Hornworms and Sphinxes, though you don't get this species there) the larva shedding its skin, however, the camera battery klonked out before it was finished. Could you look at it and tell me what do you think?

[jcmegabyte]

We defintiely don't have the Death's Head here, but we do call moths in the Sphingidae family Hawkmoths as well. :-) I'll check out your vid(s) :-)

[Jeffboii93]

hahahah!, how cool :D i love your videos. it looked like a pokemon never seen any moths like that :O

[jcmegabyte]

I do believe that some Pokemon were designed after insect life cycles. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! :-)

[Gixxerbabe]

awesome footage,one of mine just came out

[jcmegabyte]

Cool - did you get any video of it? :-)

[Gixxerbabe]

@jcmegabyte -no I didn't get any footage,she must have come out at night.Waiting for the other 12 to do the same.I'm watching like a hawk camera close by..lol

[2darbit]

That's so cool! At first it looked like a mini groundhog yawning & with buck teeth.

[jcmegabyte]

You'd think they'd need teeth to chew their way out of that tough cocoon, but they actually just puch their way through the "escape vavle" at the head-end. Thanks for visiting! :-)

[cosmolider]

good work, the life in splendor

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching! Have a great day =)

[micidragan]

First when I watched it in realtime It was a bit repulsive, but when it unfolded it wings, it was majestic.

[jcmegabyte]

The wing expansion is definitely the best part, and the time lapse helps make it even better... Thanks for watching and commenting! :-)

[bushdidit2u911]

amazing

[jcmegabyte]

No matter how many times I film this sort of event it's still an amazing sight! Thanks for checking it out :-)

[awalsorim999]

Ale super!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching!  =)

[MrBeaste]

It looks nasty when It was coming out then it looked amazing, for a secodn it seemed like the wings weren't even half the sie of the actual body

[jcmegabyte]

You're right - the wings are actually much less than half the body size right when they emerge. How they can be so compact and yet expand into such large, stiff wings is truly amazing. Cool stuff! Thanks for checking it out =)

[Keskin1975]

Very beautiful wing patterns

[jcmegabyte]

This really is an amazing species, and big, too - over 4" of wingspan in most cases. :-)

[xxunusualyou]

If I ever saw a moth that big, I'd kill over instantly. 0_0

[jcmegabyte]

Even though they are totally harmless, some people mistake them for bats and totally freak out when they find them around their porch lights or when they fly into someone's house!

Then there are those who have "moth-a-phobia" and can't stand moths no matter what size or how pretty the wings. Best to keep the screen door closed in that case! :-)

[Maniaticguerrero]

Increible

[Pebbleprominent]

That's great fun to watch. The only silk moth I have seen do that is the locally occuring Saturnia pavonia, which is good fun to rear.

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed they are - thanks for watching! :-)

[Roserietta]

I saw one of those when i was on vacay in hanniball last year. It landed on the side of the screen door. I was outside and i sat SO STILL, then it flapped over to me and landed on my hand!!!! THE DANG THING WAS BIGGER THAN MY HAND!!!! it crawled near everywhere on me untill it finally flapped off. funny when my friend came out and saw it on my face. hilarious when the eyes on the wings were right where my eyes were. I said I was wearing a mask, lol. Closest ive ever been to one. It was so fun!!!

[jcmegabyte]

One of my first experiences with large moths was with this species. Many people are very afraid of them but I found them to be quite "friendly" and safe to handle. In fact, they have no mouth or stinger so they really can't hurt you.

[watchurmouthyoungman]

that looks disgusting...

[timar03]

oregami artist

[jcmegabyte]

That's an interesting thought - thanks for checking it out! :-)

[WakingDream7]

Awesome!! Thanks for posting!

Insects are amazing..

Life is amazing!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed - thanks so much for watching! :-)

[GerryGomezPearlberg]

fabulous work, as always

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks a bunch for the great comment! :-)

[PSTEAMO25]

Precioso video..

Besos..

Ara

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! :-)

[64mung]

Mother Nature has never failed in blowing my mind! Thanks for capturing this event on video, jcm :) Fantastic work! Love the tune also :)

*****

64m >:-)

[jcmegabyte]

I agree! Seems like the hardest thing to do is to take the time to find and watch these amazing little things in our hectic day-to-day lives Thanks for watching and commenting! :-)

[veill]

Attacus atlas looks a lot like this, but then again many of these seem to have similar features.

[jcmegabyte]

I think A. atlas is in the same subgroup/tribe as Hyalophora, and yes it's amazing how similar these very different species can be, even though they are so geographically isolated. Last I heard, there are over 1500 Saturniidae species, worldwide, and a surprising number of them are genetically compatible, making some really weird (albeit man-made) hybrids possible!

Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

[musumeci2008]

Great video. The butterfly is wonderful.

Good track, in perfect harmony with the images.

[GeraldBoyClassical]

Do we actually see its mouth opening and closing at the very beginning?? It looks like it's gasping for air.

[jcmegabyte]

It does look strange doesn't it! Actually, butterflies and moths only have straw-like tubes through which they suck nectar and other juices. But this family, Saturniidae, doesn't even have that, and can't even feed as adults. They live entirely off of fats they stored as caterpillars. What you are seeing are light reflections from a liquid secreted from its head, called "cocoonaise", which actually dissolves the "glue" holding the silken threads together, so that it can escape its coocoon. :-)

[runesick]

I was waiting for one of these :) 5 stars! Where did you catch it?

[jcmegabyte]

This one was reared from the eggs of a wild female from the San Gabriel Mountains (Big Tujunga Canyon). They used to show-up in or near the edge of town (Santa Clarita) many years ago but everything is overdeveloped here now.

You can still find them in most wild areas where Ceanothus and Cercocarpus species grow, usually in March. :-)

[bios36]

You do fantastic videos my friend!

Endless stars!

**********

Rick

[jcmegabyte]

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

[xPinkTeddy]

The antennae look like leaves :)

[jcmegabyte]

The male's antennae have often been compared to ferns and acacia leaves :-)

Thanks for checking it out! =D

[TubOfCereal]

omg wow this looks soo cool

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching! :-)

[WileyPossum]

Very cool stuff, as usual! Thanks for posting!

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by =D

[chickiesgrettagirl]

good one!!5 stars*****

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks a bunch for the view, stars and comment! :-)

[mentalmoomin]

Facination, compelling and immensly beautifull...WOW.. Thankyou :) xxx

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks, Lee! :-) Hope yer havin' a great week! :-)

[nobadysmay]

very nice job !

kisses

***** 5

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! :-)

[donchisciotte62]

Simply awesome!

thanks Chris!

donni

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks a bunch for watching! =)

[floydstinkyboy]

nice job jc!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! =D

[kclama]

Very nice timelapse, thanks for sharing.

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed - thanks for stopping by! :-)

[fuzzycabin]

The moths wings look so soft. Is it possible to feel the wings without breaking them?

[jcmegabyte]

Yes - when they first start expanding their wings, they are soft and heavy, like wet wrinkly paper or velvet, although not they're not actually wet to the touch. As they expand, they stiffen-up a bit and finally when they are fully expanded they are quite rigid, but can still be touched without damaging them if you're careful. The wings are surprisingly strong throughout the process. :-)

[Austenmad24]

That was Awesome!, it was very good how it come out like that! :)

[jcmegabyte]

These big ones are pretty interesting to see emerge and expand - thanks for watching this one :-)

[Austenmad24]

your welcome dude keep the interesting video going! :)

[satsuki26]

omg he's a big boy!!!

[jcmegabyte]

This is our largest, resident moth, and the big, healthy ones get NEARLY as big as your average-sized Polys. They scare the snot out of people who aren't familiar with them - especially people who are terrified of moths to start with. Big and harmless, they really are a treat to find, although this area has grown so big, they're only found at the very outskirts of town anymore, and only if you're lucky.

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

[starzship]

awesome! beautiful!

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you liked - thanks for watching and commenting! =)

[chatroomchi]

just amazing!

[jcmegabyte]

Just as amazing to film in person as it is to watch in time lapse later - hard to beat good 'ol nature sometimes! Thanks for checking it out =D

[manzilla86]

Second :(

Interesting stuff though. One of the reason I love time lapses so much is because they simply take things that happen everyday and show how they are beautiful.

[jcmegabyte]

That's exactly why I've gotten into it so much too :-) Thanks for watching!

[delfinoerrante]

first!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Congrats! ...and thanks for stopping by :-)

[hell858]

this looks cool dude, I see you have a green screen, I think you shouls put a cool fake BG in the back ground

[jcmegabyte]

A number of my recent clips were shot specifically for compositing with chromakey/greenscreen work on a collab DVD project I did (Flutter Serenade) with Noisivision Studios. There is a clip from it on that channel. I don't have the software for that yet, but I will surely get into it at some point, if I get the time beyond all the projects I am already doing. Thanks for watching! =)