The Luna Moth Chronicles: Sadness

As some of you may know from reading my previous entries, I have been documenting my experiences raising a small batch of luna moths. We started with 5 eggs which all hatched, lost 3 caterpillars at different intervals throughout the process, and as of Thanksgiving were down to 2 caterpillars which successfully pupated.

It had been 6 1/2 weeks since they cocooned and I was expecting them to overwinter, however, Saturday morning I found a terrible mess inside one of the containers.

Corvella hatched, which should have been a joyous occasion, but since she was 5 months early and inside a closed container it was a disaster.

Corvella's empty casing

It was very sad to see the destruction within the container. She tore her wings up struggling to get out, and since she could not hang to dry her wings, they dried crumpled.

I was informed my pupae were male, but as it turns out at least one is female. Her antennae are narrow, unlike a male's antennae which are wide. She even laid 3 unfertilized eggs!

We were planning to build a box for the pupae but thought we had time. One of the websites I was referring to said the pupae should hatch within 2-3 weeks; otherwise they would overwinter. Obviously that was not the case. :(

So that leaves me to wonder two scenarios:

1) Did Corvella hatch early? We had warm weather during the past several days prior to her emergence. Did that cue her that it was "spring" and time to hatch?

2) Alternatively, perhaps she never intended to overwinter. We had very warm weather (80 degrees F) during her 4th and 5th instars. I was very careful to limit her exposure to daylight, covering her container in the evenings. The length of the day is supposed to be what causes the caterpillars to produce the hormone which triggers them to overwinter, but I wonder if temperature plays a part also?

Corvella lived for 3 days, passing on to the heavenly realms early this morning. My 5 year old cried when she hatched because he realized the gravity of the situation, but did not cry at our burial proceedings. He seems to have worked through his grief.

I am saddened and a bit frustrated. All that hard work of caring for those caterpillars...

Friday Fence Post #1

A fellow blogger friend is doing a series on Fridays called "Friday Fence Post" and has invited me to join! Since I love fences, and they're often used to contain gardens, I thought I would join the fun and share it with you!

Of course, I'm two days late I realize, but better late than never! :)

So, without further ado, here is my first fence post--

This one comes from Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. I just happened to photograph several fences while visiting. I'm glad I did!!

Come join us--

Wordless Wednesday

The Luna Moth Chronicles: Cocoon Update

After much debate, I decided to bust into the cocoons to see if I could determine the gender of the pupae. I researched this procedure thoroughly to be sure it was safe for my pupae to be open in their cocoons, and apparently, for Luna pupae it is fine and rather a common practice. So here we are!

Female Luna Moth Pupa

This is Corvella in all HIS glory! I've been informed by an expert that I have two male pupae. 

You can tell from the wide antennae. The females have narrower antennae.

NOTE: 11/29/10 Corvella turned out to be female. I suspect Clover is female also since they are identical.

An exoskeleton was in the cocoon along with the pupa. The caterpillars go through one more molting while cocooned, wiggling out of their old caterpillar skins and becoming legless blobs!

This is Clover, who is a bit smaller than Corvella. 

I suppose we ought to rename Corvella, since she's a he. Corvie? Corv? I'll have to consult my 5 yr old name genius. NOTE: The name genius was correct, since Corvella turned out to be female after all!

This is where they live, for now. I've got them in disposable plastic containers with holes punched in the lid, outside on my screened porch, hanging inside a birdcage. It doesn't get too terribly cold here, but I've read that you should avoid drafts under the pupae because it makes the wind chill worse for them.

My hubby is scheduled to build an exclosing box for them sometime soon (I hope!). Right now, if they were to emerge from their pupal shells the Luna moths wouldn't have enough space to hang and dry their wings. If their wings dry wrinkled they will not be able to fly. 

It's been a month since they cocooned and it looks like they're going to overwinter so I have a little bit of time to get that box built!

Wordless Wednesday

A little cottage with gardens in Colonial Williamsburg. There's a cat sitting in the downstairs window.

Autumn Leaves

Isn't this tree awesome? We went to Colonial Williamsburg this weekend and I couldn't stop photographing the trees!

A collection of fall leaves on a historical Williamsburg street. What lucky trees to be living in such a grand place!