Woohoo!!! A Rothschildia lebeau forbesi - Forbes' Silkmoth

Another view - all the eggs look so cute with their ends eaten out.

You can see a couple of the bigger cats - one near the top and another near the bottom. These cats were born within a three day span. You can see some that are in between the two sizes.

They still look like first instars perhaps some second instars are the bigger ones. I think they are eating their shed skin because I didn't see any when I cleaned out the container.

I'm curious to see them when they get really huge :o)

~ Cat

Wow, things happen fast in the Moth world!

Did it cool down there too? How cool can the kitties handle?
RJ

Cat,
Would you please visit my thread and I.D. my Tersa? It eclosed last night, but still clinging in its safe-house. Could it be a female waiting for her mate to come and rescue her? lol.
Hi RJ, my Tersa cat. was kept indoor at 70'ish temp. It delayed the eclosure by roughly a week? I think.

Lily -- which thread? Can you put a link to it?

RJ...it's been about 70 during the day and we're supposed to have nights ranging from 55-65 so I brought the kitties inside. I left the eggs on the sapling in the outside cage though. Figured if the cool weather delays those from hatching the better for me.

~ Cat



This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 8:50 PM

Debnes, here it's.
Temp. is in the 50's during the night....this baby was kept indoor, she eclosed last night sometimes, but remains at the airport-base all day long. And would not "take off". ....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/774042/

Sweeeeeet Kim!!
I have been covered up all day, and finally got a chance to see her. :-)

debnes

Many thanks, debnes. Nite nite, may your days be filled many beautiful butterflies. Thank you, for sharing the joy.
Kim

Arggggg...the news caster lied...it was 47 last night and has now warmed up to 51. Glad I brought the caterpillars inside.

~ Cat

oh..whew..
it almost looked like...the new caters died!...I had to read it again! I'm glad you brought them inside too...It's suppose to be coldest tomorrow morning. I can't wait for this wind and cold to be gone. (I consider below 60 in the "cold" category)

Isn't that the truth. lol, my DH greeted me with a "Brrrrr" while we were in the 60's today. I still hope for several more weeks of growing condition for my plants outdoors, and of course for those beautiful moths & butterflies before they migrate further South for the winter?

Too funny RJ...I went back and re-read that...and you are so right. I had to take a double look myself!

Was worried about the tiny buggers...some were at the bottom of the cage...perhaps they were cold even inside the house...I love the cool weather...I have the windows opened!!!

Decided to set the cages outside for a few hours as the sun was out and warming up the backporch. I hauled out the ladder to snip the end of a branch from my neighbor's ash tree. Glad to say the caterpillar were crawling on the new leaves when I brought them back inside for the night.

~ Cat

This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 8:00 PM

I think we will have more growing season. At least I'm gambling on it. I haven't put a thing in the green house yet. I have several Tequila sunrise hibiscus cuttings that looked a little uncomfortable this morning, and other seedlings that I've left out. I've also heard a mild winter forecasted for our area. The only thing eating away at that confidence was 79F is Newark NJ today..and 70F here..that's sooooo wrong!

I found this White ButterflyClerodendrum calamitosum to be irresistable to moths and butterflies!

I coming out of my lurking mode for just long enough to say I am absolutely amazed and delighted by this whole thread..

How cool to watch these moths through the whole life cycle..Wow! and to be able to photograph it all.

RJ, If I'm not mistaking, that's the very same moth I raised and released. They're awesome to watch, aren't they?

Yes they are great. it was a very good year for them, there were lots of them in the garden this year. As a matter of fact Cat helped me i.d. a couple of the pupas I found a while back.

Thanks RJ, too for posting the Clerodrendrum, they're beautiful. I bet they've good fragrance too?

Yes it does, it is more fragrant in the evening.

Rj!!
Your Clerodendron is amazing.. Ya just took my breath away!

debnes

Okay...
I had to come to the Butterfly expert.

I know about Monarch migration, and the place they go in Mexico, but never in all of my life have I ever witnessed what I've just witnessed at a park accross the street from where I work. Monarch after Monarch were arriving into the park like a busy airport. After seeing so many I decided to see why they were descending out of the air from high up into the park, and lo and behold they were all going to one tree...I so wish I had a camera, but even then it's evening. The top of the tree is covered with Monarch butterflies! Do they they gather together like that on their migration? I've NEVER seen this behavior ever. It could be that it is right time, right place, and it happens every year..but I've never even heard of them gathering until they hit Mexico.
Enlightenment?

Rj

Rj, what tree was it, did you notice?

Yep Rj~!
It is very common behavior for migrating Monarchs. They cluster in trees in California and overwinter there. Chances are a slew of them came in on the wind all together there. Take your camera to work tomorrow and leave at least 20 min early you might see it again. They might be sleeping there to catch their breath before setting out again..
Here is one site I found off the bat that is fairly explanatory, and I will collect some more if I can and shoot them your way.
http://www.monarchwatch.org/download/pdf/where.pdf
debnes

They overwinter in Florida too, and in South Texas.. Cat might have some good shots and stuff too.

More pics

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0geu8U9LSFHvywAIndXNyoA?ei=UTF-8&p=monarchs%20roosting%20in%20trees&fr2=tab-web&fr=moz2

How cool.
thanks guys. I didn't realize they overwinter in other places. to hear the Discovery channel tell the story there's no other place they overwinter. We did have a cold front that took 3 days to blow through, and today was the end of it. It was blowing hard the last 3 days.
It's suppose to be 44F gross degrees tonight...

It looked to me that it was a Live Oak tree.

That just thrilled me
I'm going to check out those links..
thanks
Rj

I made a report from that one link...Thanks!

Sounds like the Monarchs are moving through. Guess that bit of cool weather prompted the move. I haven't taken any photos as I've been at home trying to clean out my house and garage :o) but I did take a quick look outside for a break and counted five Monarchs nectaring on my duranta so that's a good sign.

The Monarchs are indeed migrating through here on their way to Mexico :o)

One of our local lepidoperterists (Jan Dauphin) has recent photos of them roosting for the night in Mission, TX on her website. Our south Texas butterfly list server has received numerous reports of them roosting in various cities around the Rio Grande Valley these past couple of days.


http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2293619290048489912bTZtbh?vhost=outdoors

~ Cat

That's what was happening here...! It was near sun down and they were all flocking to one tree.to roost for the night.....the tree was covered..I'd only seen pictures before.
It's going to be cooooold tonight

I'm jelous, lol. Rj enjoy the evening. Snap alot of pics. and do share, please.
Kim

I didn't get photos...It was at work, and I would have had to get up at the crack of dawn on an already busy friday..Have relatives in town.

We just arrioved home from the North Texas Swap/RU about 9 AM. About 9:30 my new rig/ adaptor was delivered from China. This allows me to have an 800mm Macro lens that focuses down to 2 feet. This lens was a 135 MM used on my Medium Format camera.
I got a bit excited and went to the Cosmos patch to see what was happening there. The place was swarming with Buckeyes, so I will now bore everyone with some of the results. I am using this on my new Pentax K10D, 10.2 MP.

1 of 6. All of these are on the Cosmos, taken in about 2 minutes. I noticed that some have an orange strip near the back of their wings and others have yellow.

2 of 6.

3 of 6.

4 of 6.

5 of 6.

6 of 6.

Wow trois!
What fine pics! I love the Buckeyes!

I really enjoyed meeting you and Barbara face to face, and taking pics with ya Sunday!

I am wondering if the ones with orange are females.. In fall they produce a

Thanks, Debnes. We very much enjoyed meeting you also, and many others as well. Did you see the DF you discovered? I forgot which thread I posted it in. It had beautiful blue eyes. Must go seek more butterflies!

trois

I was glad you posted that Buckeye, because wouldn't you know it ...today I saw one land on the deck. I usually don't see them at all.

Thanks rjuddharrison. I have seldom seen them. I never knew they were so beautiful till I got the pictures. I didn't see any today, but the monarchs are starting to relax a bit.
trois

Back to the Forbes' cats...they are growing...but slowly it seems.
Here's a photo from today. They are now 11 days old.

~ Cat

It is so wonderful that the moth found someone who can appreciate its beauty and who knows what it is. Beautiful!!