Our oldest three third instar Cecropia caterpillars (Hyalophora cecropia) have entered apolysis. 6/26: Today we checked on the Cecropia caterpillars frequently, hoping that one of the three caterpillars that entered apolysis yesterday would ecdyse, but none of them did. The apolysis period takes a longer time every instar so this isn't too surprising, but they will surely molt tomorrow. We made sure too get some better pics of the caterpillars in apolysis as seen above. Their entire bodies are now extremely tight and swollen, which is especially apparent in the third photo. Fourth instar must have a huge cuticle compared to third instar's and it is getting really stuffy in there. Here are the numbers for today; two more thirds entered apolysis Count: L3+: 5; L3: 28; L2+: 1; dead: 2 (drowned) 6/25: Today our oldest three third instar Cecropia caterpillars entered apolysis for the fourth instar-but let's start from the beginning first. At around 4:00-4:30 PM, we checked on the caterpillars and noticed the oldest individuals were all extremely plump with tight looking cuticles. Looking closer, we saw that the bases of their tubercles were swollen as seen in the three photos below. It is most apparent with the red tubercles because of the contrast on the green but all the tubercles appear to be swollen under close inspection. The swelling is due to the much larger fourth instar tubercles already taking form underneath the current cuticle and it should probably intensify as it gets closer to ecdysing into fourth instar. Also, we suspected the individual on apple on the right-most photo was already in apolysis because it had created a silk pad (look closely at the picture) and was very still which are early signs of apolysis despite that the head capsule has not shifted yet. At around 7:00-8:00 PM, we checked on the caterpillars again, and found that three caterpillars had displaced head capsules, two of which are the ones shown in the photos above (left and middle are same individual on plum, right is a different individual on apple), so our apolysis suspicions were correct. Below shows an up close head and full body photo of the individual on plum from above left and middle photos. If you look at the close up head photo, you can clearly see the displaced head capsule as well as the swollen red tubercles, especially at the bases. The cuticle of the whole body in general is very tight as well. Other than this plum feeder individual in the photos, the other two caterpillars in apolysis are both apple feeders, which is quite surprising since last time around during the second to third instar molts, the plum feeder ecdysed a whole day before the two apple feeders but this time around the apple feeders caught up (or the plum feeder slowed down?). We think this is possibly because the apple leaves are a better food choice for indoor rearing (we do not know about outdoors or in the wild), because the leaves are bigger and provide more living space, and seem to retain water slightly better than plum leaves. Anyway, below are the numbers for today. We expect the three caterpillars in apolysis to molt tomorrow night or the day after. Count: L3+: 3; L3: 30; L2+: 1; dead: 2 (drowned) - Alan
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
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![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |