It's been a month since I last posted. So I'm going to play 'catch up' before the fall migration begins.
This is #5. So darn cute. I kept looking at the pic and in the background looked a little 'weird'. So I got a better shot.
This is a caterpillar going through a molt. The cat grows but the skin does NOT. So therefore it leaves everything behind...face and all! *smile* In just two weeks the caterpillar will shed its skin five times. In other words, the insect must wear and outgrow five skins. Each skin is called an instar.
This little guy starting climbing to the top of the cage yesterday from eating leaves and here he is this morning. Can you see the silk button that is attach to him and the top of the cage?
See how odd it looks? Wet and soft to the touch. At this point, it could easily be damage. Here he will hang for 9-14 days.
Pic below is a few hours later and you can see the difference in color and texture. Now another one coming to inspect. lol I do keep a very close eye on both, the chrysalis and the caterpillar. You don't want the cat to form into a chry to close to another, nor do you want the cat to knock the chry down. I have been known to put a cat in TIME OUT....ie another cage! *smile*
Okay...look at this problem child (one your right)! What you say? Well the
🐛 has formed his silk button onto not one but 2 leaves. Not cool. Even if I wanted to carefully cut the leaf to move #1 elsewhere I'd be cutting #2s antennas. Really!? Time will tell what I'll need to do. Is mother nature as crazy about her cats as I am? Lol I doubt it. 
💜🐛
What I did was gently cut the leaves and pined the caterpillar and the leaves it was attached to one another site, on top of the cage. Once it turned into a chrysalis, I removed the silk button from the leaves and attached with a straight pin as you see below. The pin is on top, above the cages, as to not stick any of the cats.
2 comments:
Mother Nature is probably not as careful as you are, she relies on numbers.
It’s wonderful to think they will become a beautiful butterfly
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