Finally Photographed
Yes it's true! I finally watched and photographed the process of becoming a "Hanging J". It took hours of patience, and the photos are not great quality, but they still demonstrate the process very clearly.
Step one: The Button. As you can see, between the front feet of this caterpillar
there is a small lump of a silky substance. They make it with their mouths, and
use it to hang from.
Step two: The Attachment.When they feel the button is complete, they will turn
around and attach their little rear ends to the button.
Step Three: Ever So Slowly...
They let go!
This was in fact my third caterpillar to make a chrysalis, since two made J's yesterday. But they always seem to make a chrysalis while I'm sleeping! Hopefully soon there will be a daytime even so I can photograph that as well. But be warned, that process is kind of gross.
Today was another food day, and it was much needed. It's difficult to keep up with all these hungry caterpillars. One is still missing, which happens a lot actually. I don't think it was a serious death if it did pass away, because it was too small to pass on diseases. Not to mention I am keeping my enclosure much cleaner than previous years. New paper towel in the bottom every other day, and discarding plants as soon as they start to yellow. So I am confident that if it was a disease related death it won't spread to anyone else. Not to mention I already have three healthy pupae!
That's all for today, I will write soon.
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