Our Ophthalm Sphinx (Smerinthus ophthalmica) caterpillar pupated today. It was originally found as an egg mistakenly laid by the moth on Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) growing under a willow tree (Salix), the intended host, at the Eastside Permaculture Garden (Albany, CA) and has been reared indoors on willow cuttings. This afternoon, the Ophthalm Sphinx prepupa had become a dirty pale yellow with brown spot, and the caterpillar cuticle was very loose. By around 4:00 PM, we caught it right in act of pupating so we recorded and photographed the process. The prepupa stage lasted approximately 4 days from 7/29-8/2. Video of pupation (4x speed): Photo of ventral, lateral, and dorsal views and gonophore with time labeled: Ventral view: Lateral view: Dorsal view: The teneral pupa is very soft and green except for the dorsal side of the abdomen that was already a light brown. After a few hours, the pupa quickly tanned and turned brown, first on the abdomen and thorax, and eventually the wings as well. A few more hours later, and the brown darked to shiny black, and the cuticle became hard and smooth. Now that the Ophthalm Sphinx is a pupa, we should be able to sex it based on the genital pores at the tip of the ventral side of the abdomen, shown below. Yet, frustratingly, after studying it for quite awhile and comparing to images online, we were confused if we had a male or female, and since we only have one pupa, we have no others to compare to. The gonophore (genital opening) is located entirely on the fourth segment after the wing covered segments which would be indicative of a female, whose gonophore is usually either split between the fourth or fifth segment or only on the fourth segment. However, the shape of the gonophore is more male-like, because it is in a kidney shaped bump. For now, we will assume it is female because the location of the gonophore is a more reliable sex indicator than the appearance, because the shape varies greatly between species anyways. - 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 |