Raising Polyphemus Caterpillars part 3- a larger instar

 As I mentioned, September was a huge time of change in these amazing creatures. Every single day they gained more centimeters. It was gratifying because I picked a lot of leaves for them and knowing they were eating and growing was nice. 

September 12. As mentioned in previous posts, measuring them was not the easiest task. Am not sure who this one is against the toothpick, although, you can see how fat they are getting! They did 99% of their eating hanging upside down. Something they do in the wild, or so I have read, is eat the entire leaf and then snip off where it was attached to the stem. This helps hide where they've been eating from predators. Once again, and not for the last time, the feet on the caterpillars fascinated me! 

September 13. Jon took these two. You can see how different this stage is from the former ones. 

September 14. They ate in a fast and methodological way. It reminded me of how an old fashioned typewriter worked. They'd start on one edge and clear out an entire row before moving down to the next 'line'. Jon's photos in the previous post also showed this. 

The next 3 are also Jon's photos. They are dated Sept 14, but I thought these were later. Steve is holding either Charlie or Alpha. 

September 15. 

Caterpillar frass, or poop, is something you need to clean out as often as possible. As with any creature, a clean home makes for much better living conditions. By this stage in their life cycle, their frass was the size of a pea seed. They continued to shed as they grew. The bottom image has one of the face plates inside the end of a regular size paper clip.