Happy Spring to everyone! This is the time of year when
everything is greening up and warming up (well, except for our recent cold
spell. It’s another “weird weather” year). And every day that I can, I look for
new spring arrivals wherever I am, and note the year’s “firsts” – the first
spring Purple Martin; the first hummingbird, the first egg-laying butterflies,
etc. I’ve already seen all of the above
and much more, and I hope you have noticed too.
Last July I wrote in my blog about some of the butterfly and
moth caterpillars that I have raised and released. Do you remember this guy?
It is a Cecropia Moth caterpillar that I caged and fed until
it went into its cocoon stage. The cocoon was very cool; the caterpillar spun a
silk cocoon around itself and attached itself to the wall of the screen cage it was
in. I left the cage on my front porch all fall and winter so the cocoon would
mature naturally under its normal
timetable and normal temperatures (If you bring chrysalis or cocoons indoors into
warmer temperatures, the butterfly or moth will probably emerge too early,
before nature is providing its food sources, and while it is still too cold outdoors for its survival).
I expected my moth to emerge around June, but it made its
grand entrance into the world on April 21, perhaps earlier than usual because
of the warm temperatures we had in the early spring. Here’s the moth, perched
on my hand:
Isn’t he (she?) magnificent! The Cecropia in the largest
moth in North America, and as you can see, he was almost as big as my hand. And
what a gorgeous pattern and vivid colors! Other moth species that I have raised
have been very placid the day they emerged, not moving much, and easily
handled. Not this one; he was feisty from the get go and not happy to have me
admiring him. So right after I took my photo, I placed him in my Wild Cherry
Tree, where he quickly maneuvered up the branches to a spot where he roosted
for the rest of the day. What a thrill!
On the same day that our largest moth appeared, I found the
tiniest of butterfly life on my Tulip Poplar tree. I was checking it for Tiger
Swallowtail caterpillars because I had seen some adults in my yard the week
before and guessed that they were laying eggs (the Tulip Poplar is one of
the Tiger Swallowtail's host plants). I chanced upon a caterpillar that had just barely hatched
from its egg. I was not able to get a good photo with my camera equipment, but
this photo does show you what it looked like:
The first thing a caterpillar does when it emerges from its
egg is to eat the egg for instant nutrition. That’s what this guy is doing.
Consider that this egg is substantially smaller than the head of a pin, and
you’ll get some perspective on how tiny the caterpillar is. (He reminds me of
the kid in that car commercial, wearing a Darth Vader costume and trying to perform
some hocus pocus on the car). Here's what it will look like in about a month:
I’ve already seen Red Admirals laying eggs on my False
Nettle, Palamedes Swallowtails laying eggs on my Red Bay, Black Swallowtails
laying on my Fennel, Monarchs on my Milkweed, more Tiger Swallowtails on the
Tulip Poplar and the Sweet Bay Magnolia, and American Ladies on my Pearly
Everlasting. It should be a good year for raising butterflies, and I’ll keep
you posted!
