February 2015 Photo of the month contest - Page 2 - Wildlife Gardeners

KC Clark · 03-03-2015, 12:59 PM

Seems like every year one of my caterpillars escapes in the fall and emerges in the winter as a moth. This is this year's escapee: female polyphemus

havalotta · 03-03-2015, 01:20 PM

When they escape...Do they end up forming a chrysalis-pupa in an unknown spot in your home or..... do you find them, yet leave them because they might get bruised or killed moving them elsewhere?

Are chrysalis-pupa one in the same or are they considered different phases?

KC Clark · 03-03-2015, 01:51 PM

They make a cocoon somewhere. Sometimes I find them but I believe it has always been after the moth has eclosed. Polys are the main culprit with lunas being a distant second.

When I'm cleaning out an aquarium, I put some fresh leaves in the lid and then put the caterpillars on the leaves. The caterpillars are not there very long and I try grab all the ones that aren't interested in the food but one a year usually escapes.

Pupa is the generic term for the third stage of complete metamorphosis. Chrysalis is specific to the pupal stage of Lepidoptera with most people making it specific to butterflies. I've been taught that chrysalis is "something golden" in Greek. YMMV

You can actually get more specific about "pupa." There is "pupa libera." An example people are familiar with are the white bees/wasps you see in broken nests. You can see the appendages but you know it is not a full fledged bee/wasp yet. And there is "pupal obtecta." This is when the pupal form is protected within a shell that the insect produced itself (worker bee made the shell protecting the bee pupa).

EllenW · 03-03-2015, 02:18 PM

beautiful moth. Thank you for your photo KC Clark

havalotta · 03-03-2015, 03:08 PM

Pupa would be interchangeable with Chrysalis then with
Chrysalis being the term that should be used if the insect falls under the Lepidoptera (Moth-butterfly family)

Cool! Thank you for mentioning a couple other forms and names of pupa KC

pupa libera https://www.google.com/search?q=pupa...w=1164&bih=826
pupa obtecta https://www.google.com/search?q=pupa...g&ved=0CCAQsAQ

Moth has eclosed....Meaning left its case?
I know what a luna is but what's a poly?

03-03-2015, 12:59 PM	#11
KC Clark Salamander Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Central Ohio	Seems like every year one of my caterpillars escapes in the fall and emerges in the winter as a moth. This is this year's escapee: female polyphemus Attached Thumbnails __________________ The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity. George Carlin

03-03-2015, 01:20 PM	#12
havalotta WG Prize & Gift Coordinator Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Michigan	When they escape...Do they end up forming a chrysalis-pupa in an unknown spot in your home or..... do you find them, yet leave them because they might get bruised or killed moving them elsewhere? Are chrysalis-pupa one in the same or are they considered different phases? __________________ The successful woman is the woman that had the chance and took it! A walk among the elusive Whitetail Deer

03-03-2015, 02:18 PM	#14
EllenW Alternate POM Judge Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Maryland	beautiful moth. Thank you for your photo KC Clark __________________ In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle

03-03-2015, 03:08 PM	#15
havalotta WG Prize & Gift Coordinator Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Michigan	Pupa would be interchangeable with Chrysalis then with Chrysalis being the term that should be used if the insect falls under the Lepidoptera (Moth-butterfly family) Cool! Thank you for mentioning a couple other forms and names of pupa KC pupa libera https://www.google.com/search?q=pupa...w=1164&bih=826 pupa obtecta https://www.google.com/search?q=pupa...g&ved=0CCAQsAQ Moth has eclosed....Meaning left its case? I know what a luna is but what's a poly? __________________ The successful woman is the woman that had the chance and took it! A walk among the elusive Whitetail Deer

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03-03-2015, 01:51 PM	#13
KC Clark Salamander Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Central Ohio	They make a cocoon somewhere. Sometimes I find them but I believe it has always been after the moth has eclosed. Polys are the main culprit with lunas being a distant second. When I'm cleaning out an aquarium, I put some fresh leaves in the lid and then put the caterpillars on the leaves. The caterpillars are not there very long and I try grab all the ones that aren't interested in the food but one a year usually escapes. Pupa is the generic term for the third stage of complete metamorphosis. Chrysalis is specific to the pupal stage of Lepidoptera with most people making it specific to butterflies. I've been taught that chrysalis is "something golden" in Greek. YMMV You can actually get more specific about "pupa." There is "pupa libera." An example people are familiar with are the white bees/wasps you see in broken nests. You can see the appendages but you know it is not a full fledged bee/wasp yet. And there is "pupal obtecta." This is when the pupal form is protected within a shell that the insect produced itself (worker bee made the shell protecting the bee pupa).