Nine days after taking the pictures of the Cecropia moth and her eggs in my last post, I had the time to photograph them again. By then, the last of the eggs had just hatched. From a distance the caterpillars looked cute and fuzzy, but up close they seemed formidable enough to make just about any predator back away!
First instar of a Cecropia Moth caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia) on the eggs it just emerged from.
This one has just chewed it’s way out of the egg. If you compare it to one of the later images, you may notice the pedicles that it’s sharp little guard hairs grow out of are a lighter yellow or orange color just after they hatch. They soon turn as dark as the rest of their skin.
The "hair" you can see on some of the eggs came from the female as she glued them in place. The glue gives the eggs the pinkish color -- and the darker orange spots where the glue pooled as it dried.
The "hair" you can see on some of the eggs came from the female as she glued them in place. The glue gives the eggs the pinkish color -- and the darker orange spots where the glue pooled as it dried.
Life size caterpillar and eggs
The picture above is uncropped, taken at 5x magnification. To give you an idea of the caterpillar's actual size, if the image to the left is just under one inch (24mm) tall on your monitor, you’re seeing how tiny they really were!
The eggs in these two images were laid on the glass of the terrarium. I propped up a white sheet of paper a few inches behind the glass to lighten the background. The caterpillars spent several minutes on the eggs after they hatched. I don’t know if they were chewing away at more of the eggshell, or just letting their guard hairs stiffen up. Either way, they were soon off looking for a nice tender leaf to start munching on.
First instar of Cecropia Moth caterpillars (Hyalophora cecropia), on lilac leaf. 3X life size in camera
To begin with, it was fairly easy to keep them stocked with a fresh supply of leafy lilac twigs in florists’ vials. Within a month, however, that had changed to a daily task!
First instar of Cecropia Moth caterpillars (Hyalophora cecropia), on lilac leaf. 5X life size in camera
The caterpillars in today’s post are all in the first instar stage. By nine days after I had taken these pictures, several of them had molted for the first time, growing bigger and more colorful.
You'll see for yourself in my next post!
You'll see for yourself in my next post!
