Our oldest third instar Ceanothus caterpillar (Hyalophora euryalus) has ecdysed into fourth instar. This afternoon at around 5:30 PM, the third instar Ceanothus caterpillar that entered apolysis on 7/5 began ecdysing into fourth instar and we took several time lapse photos as shown below with the time labeled. Dorsal view: Lateral view: After ecdysing and tanning, a very apparent difference can be seen between the fourth and third instar. First, all the dorsal red tubercles have turned yellow and are more elongated but slimmer. They are also smoother, with only a few black spikes at the tip. The lateral blue tubercles are now paler and tipped with white. Also, there is now a black ring at the base of the six large yellow dorsal and middorsal tubercles on T2, T3, and A8 as well as on all the lateral blue tubercles. There is also now a white ring around the spircles. The body color is much more yellow green now rather than turquoise green. At around 9:00, the caterpillar began eating its exuviae, shown below. On another note, it is interesting to compare how different the Ceanothus caterpillar's body shape and tubercles are from the Cecropia's caterpillars now. Below are pictures of the newly molted fourth instar Ceanothus caterpillar next to a newly molted fourth instar Cecropia caterpillar. The Ceanothus tubercles are much less pronounced and are rod-shaped, with a slight taper down the base. On the other hand, the Cecropia tubercles are much larger and more knob-shaped and are somewhat spherical at the top. The main difference in body shape is in the thorax between the two species. The Ceanothus thorax, when viewed laterally, is swollen and is bent at a defined angle at each of the large dorsal tubercles while the Cecropia thorax is a smooth curve. Also, the cross sections of the Ceanothus body in general are slightly angled at each tubercle (especially at the thorax), creating a very subtle octagonal prism body shape while the Cecropia is less so, having a more cylindrical body shape. Size-wise, the two species are still quite close, but the Ceanothus seems just slightly slimmer, though their head capsule are about the same size. Also, since we are still struggling to deal with the disease, we decided the best option for us now is to purchase a live Ceanothus plant. Thus, we did so tonight and bought a decently sized Ceanothus griseus horizontalis plant. Once we make some small sleeves, we will put all the remaining healthy caterpillars on it and place the plant outside. Also, since we are unsure about pesticides, we placed the healthy second instar on it as a "lab rat" for now. Today marks the end of third instar for the oldest caterpillar that lasted for approximately 8 days and 20 hours from 6/28-7/7. Second instar lasted for approximately 5 days and 8 hours from 6/23-6/28 and first instar for the oldest Ceanothus caterpillar lasted for approximately 5 days and 2 hours from 6/18-6/23. Count: L4: 1; L3+: 0; L3: 8; L2: 1; dead: 14 (1 missing, 12 disease, 1 squashed); suspected sick: 1 - 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 |