Polyphemus Caterpillars to Moths-enclosion. part 6.

July had started and the moths, if they were going to emerge or enclose, would probably show up around the 13th. However, the last weeks in June, checking on them often had become a habit.  July 3, my brief glimpse into the dark space under the desk where they were hidden showed me something different. Charlie and Alpha had left their winter homes! A male and a female had been liberated. Freedom from the confines of youth!! The male, Alpha, climbed to the top of the mesh enclosure and Charlie stayed on the branch where her cocoon was made. When the caterpillars are growing, it is not possible to tell the sexes apart. When they are inside the pupa, you can tell from the shape of part of the casing. It is much easier to just wait and see! The male has large feathery antennae to find the female after she releases pheromones when she's ready to mate. The two moths are also different colors, just because they can be. Not for any particular reason. It takes hours for their wings to dry and their bodies to change into their adult state. The female has a large pursy body and small antennae.

About 2 am they were fluttering around and I was concerned they'd harm their wings. Jon took out the branch pieces (Steve drilled holes in a bit of wood so the branches would remain upright for air circulation.) The female opened up her wings and Jon was able to get photos of her. I left them in a dark cool room so Steve could see them in the morning. 

July 4. 

We released Alpha. However, Charlie was outside much of the night in the mesh container to see if she'd attract a different male, but the smoke from the fireworks may have messed up her personal pheromones!

 Male and female antenna in the photos following. 

July 3. I had moved Pee Wee inside to the dining room table to keep watch after the other two emerged. I was working on these Poly Posts at the table, when I heard scratching noises. Now, we have a black field cricket in the house, but this didn't sound like Twain scraping the walls of his container. It wasn't that darn squirrel in the window, either, although he was there again. I looked at the container Pee Wee was in and realised the leaves were moving! I tried to photograph his entry into the world, but it was very fast. As soon as his head popped out, I knew it was a male. Those feathery antennae are very distinctive! He crawled up the side of the plastic container to the lid and fell a couple of times. I was super worried because when one of the Painted Ladies we'd raised last summer fell, the wings were too crumpled for flying.

The cocoons are incredible bits of construction. In the wild, Polyphemus caterpillars leave their host tree and move to another one to camouflage where they are. This is actually when most of them are found. Seeing a several inch bright green caterpillar crawling on the ground is a bit of a surprise and people pick them up. When the caterpillar moves to a secure spot in a new tree or bush, they fold leaves around them with silk and inside that tent, make another stronger layer of more silk. Not until those are complete do they create their teardrop pupa. When they need out, there isn't an escape hatch. These guys melt the inner layers of the cocoon and tear at the walls with tiny spurs as they move around in a circle. (see link under life cycle!) In the first photo below, the silk casing can be seen. The second photo has all the leaves wrapped tight in a sort of cylinder. The last one shows a hole where the moth finally reached freedom!!!! After they were gone, I examined the cocoons. I shook it and inside you could hear the remains of the pupa shell. The cocoons are super hard and the fibers are very soft. 

The liberated Polyphemus moths: 

In order: Alpha, Pee Wee, and Charlie. 

And in a week, these adults will die and the whole process will start over again!!!