{"id":1986,"date":"2020-02-28T20:35:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T20:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=1986"},"modified":"2020-03-01T20:31:21","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T20:31:21","slug":"a-caterpillar-raising-extravaganza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=1986","title":{"rendered":"A Caterpillar-Raising Extravaganza!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cecropia Moth caterpillar in its last stage of development. July 2017. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Barb Elliot, Ph.D.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In July 2017, I came home from Mothapalooza<\/a>, a conference for moth enthusiasts, with a Cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia)<\/em> caterpillar. \u00a0I was excited. \u00a0The beautiful adult Cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia) is the largest moth in North America with a wingspan from 5″ – 7″. The showy caterpillars are chunky and grow to 4\u201d- 4.5\u201d. Although I had raised butterfly and moth caterpillars previously to increase their chances of survival, I now had the opportunity to observe the life cycle of this iconic silk moth and learn about its role in our ecosystem.<\/p>\n

My caterpillar was almost full grown, but still had a voracious appetite. I kept it in a butterfly cage, provided a constant supply of fresh River Birch leaves, and removed the caterpillar waste (frass) each day. \u00a0Cecropia caterpillars can eat other native tree and shrub leaves including elm, oak, maple, apple, cherry, ash, sassafras and willow, but prefer to stick to one kind once they begin eating.\u00a0A Cecropia caterpillar gains more<\/p>\n

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Cecropia caterpillar making its silk cocoon enclosure. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

than a thousand times its weight between hatching from its egg to being fully grown and ready to pupate and spin its cocoon.<\/p>\n

In late summer, my caterpillar clung to a twig in the cage and spun a cocoon around itself.\u00a0 Inside the protective silk, it changed from a caterpillar to a dark brown pupa, the third stage in its development.<\/p>\n

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A completed Cecropia cocoon. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Many months later, on June 21, 2018, with metamorphosis complete, a spectacular\u00a0female Cecropia moth emerged (eclosed) from the cocoon. With only a week to live and with no mouth parts to eat and drink, this adult female\u2019s sole job was to mate and lay eggs.<\/p>\n

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Cecropia moth female newly eclosed from her cocoon. June 21, 2018 \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

I decided to keep the moth outside overnight to see if she could attract a mate.\u00a0 At dusk, I put her in a wire cage with holes sufficiently large for mating to occur.\u00a0 A male, with its large, feathery antennae, can detect the pheromones a female emits and hone in from over a mile away.<\/p>\n

I got up at 5 AM the next morning to check on her.\u00a0 A male was clinging to the cage and mating with her!\u00a0 The two mated all day and de-coupled just before dark.\u00a0 Right away she began laying eggs.\u00a0 I released the male so he could mate with other females.<\/p>\n

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Mating Cecropia moths. Note the male’s (on right) larger, more feathery antennae. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

During the overnight hours, she laid about 130 eggs.\u00a0 After she rested, I released her so she could lay more eggs and live in the wild for the rest of her short life.<\/p>\n

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Cecropia eggs – two days old. June 27, 2018.<\/p><\/div>\n

I kept five eggs and donated the rest to several environmental organizations and a few caterpillar-savvy friends. Three of my eggs hatched on July 4th<\/sup>, ten days after being laid.<\/p>\n

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My Cecropia eggs after three hatched.\u00a0 Note the two with exit holes chewed by the tiny caterpillars. July 4, 2018.\u00a0 \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Each \u00bc\u201d black, spiny caterpillar chewed a hole in its leathery brown egg and almost immediately began eating the River Birch leaves I provided.\u00a0 Within two or three days, the caterpillars outgrew the skin of their initial first stage (instar) and molted into a second instar.\u00a0 Each\u00a0time\u00a0a caterpillar molted, the new skin was “loose” so it could continue its rapid growth. All three ate, grew, and reached the fifth instar, their final caterpillar stage.<\/p>\n

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Newly hatched Cecropia moth caterpillar – first instar. . July 4, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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First & second instar Cecropias.\u00a0 9 days old. July 13, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Two Cecropia cats molting from 2nd to 3rd instar; one still in 2nd instar. 11 days old. July 15, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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More mature 3rd instar Cecropia. 22 days old. July 21, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Two fifth instar Cecropias and one 4th instar. 31 days old. Aug 3 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

While my Cecropias were growing, I got an opportunity to raise another large silk moth.\u00a0 On July 13, a friend noticed a large moth at the foot of a light pole – a Royal Walnut Moth or Regal Moth (Citheronia regalis<\/em>).\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, the moth was dead but had laid eggs before succumbing.\u00a0 This hapless moth, like countless others, was drawn to nighttime outdoor lights, but was unable to escape the lights and died.<\/p>\n

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Dead Royal Walnut Moth by light pole with eggs. July 13, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Of about 25 eggs I kept five and donated the rest to the Academy of Natural Sciences.\u00a0 Just one of mine hatched and I began feeding Black Walnut leaves, one of its host plants, to the tiny fierce-looking caterpillar.\u00a0 This caterpillar, known as the Hickory Horned Devil (HHD), is the largest caterpillar species in North America.\u00a0 This species also goes through five instars before pupating. Although harmless, each stage looks scary and unpalatable, intended to make a bird or other hungry predator steer clear of such a high-protein meal.<\/p>\n

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Newly hatched Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar. July 24, 2018. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Second instar of the Hickory Horned Devil. Aug 1, 2018. Day 9. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Third instar of the Hickory Horned Devil. Aug 6, 2018. Day 14. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Fourth instar of the Hickory Horned Devil. Day 20. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Early 5th instar of the Hickory Horned Devil. Aug 16, 2018. Day 24. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Hickory Horned Devil 5th instar, now greener with some blue near the head. Aug 19, 2018. Day 26. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Fifth instar, Hickory Horned Devil. Some blue starting in a few spots on top of body. Aug 22, 2018. Day 30.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Hickory Horned Devil in final 5th instar colors – ready to pupate. Wikipedia image by Chris Hibbard.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hickory Horned Devil Pupa. Winter 2018-2019. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

To my astonishment, I was raising the moth species with the largest caterpillar along with three caterpillars of the largest moth species.\u00a0 By the end of August, all three Cecropia caterpillars made their cocoons. My almost hotdog-sized HHD caterpillar turned into a dark brown pupa during the first week of September. This species doesn\u2019t spin a cocoon like its Cecropia relative, but digs down into the soil to pupate and spend the winter. \u00a0To simulate an underground environment. I provided an enclosure filled with crumpled paper towels, and the caterpillar pupated there successfully.\u00a0 When temperatures turned frigid, I moved the HHD pupa into my refrigerator for safe-keeping over the winter.\u00a0 As I had with their mother, I kept the Cecropia cocoons outside and waited for spring.<\/p>\n

All three Cecropia moths eclosed \u2013 a male on May 22nd<\/sup>, and females on June 22nd<\/sup> and 25th<\/sup> \u2013 and I released them after dark on those nights.<\/p>\n

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The second of my 3 Cecropias to eclose from its cocoon – a female on June 22, 2019. \u00a9 Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately, the HHD pupa died, so that huge, spectacular caterpillar didn\u2019t become a beautiful Royal Walnut Moth as I had hoped.\u00a0 In nature, less than 5% of caterpillars survive to become butterflies or moths.<\/p>\n

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A live Royal Walnut Moth. (Citheronia regalis). \u00a9 Paul Scharf via dpr.ncparks.gov<\/p><\/div>\n

Because they are active only at night, it\u2019s rare for us to see Cecropia, Royal Walnut, or other large moths.\u00a0 However, they and their caterpillars are key food sources for birds and other animals and thus are important members of our local food webs.\u00a0 You can help keep them flying by providing native trees and shrubs that caterpillars need for food.\u00a0 If you have outdoor lights, use timers or motion detectors so they are not on from dusk to dawn. \u00a0Of course, don\u2019t use pesticides, which kill not just moths and caterpillars, but other beneficial insects, many of which are in steep decline. \u00a0If you\u2019d like to see these and other interesting moth species, attend a local moth night event, perhaps\u00a0 during National Moth Week<\/a> in July, or have a moth night of your own.\u00a0 I wish for you a Cecropia Moth, Royal Walnut Moth, and other magnificent nighttime moth wonders!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Barb Elliot, Ph.D. In July 2017, I came home from Mothapalooza, a conference for moth enthusiasts, with a Cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia) caterpillar. \u00a0I was excited. \u00a0The beautiful adult Cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia) is the largest moth in North America … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,1,112],"tags":[15,88,156,14,95,10,155,24,5,157,154],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1986"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2056,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986\/revisions\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}