- Joined
- May 27, 2017
- Messages
- 1,336
I've raised caterpillars on and off for a couple years now, and I'm always hesitant to throw away any unhatched pupa, no matter how long it's been since it should have eclosed. Well, now my actions have been justified.
During the summer, while all my various Saturniid moths were flying about, my 2 Manduca sexta caterpillars were finally starting to pupate. Once they pupated, they were both kept exactly the same, in the same enclosure, with the same light cycle. One of the moths eclosed about 3 weeks after pupation. That one has long since died. The second one never eclosed.
Despite suspecting it had died, I left the pupa in a kritter keeper I had set up as an eclosure tank. I put that KK to the side and completely forgot about it.
Fast forward 6 months or so (to today), and I'm getting cozy in bed, trying to sleep. I start hearing some loud thumping noises, but I just assumed it's one of my tarantulas at first and ignore it. But then I hear it again. This time, I decided to pause my TV and get a better listen.
That's when I heard it. The unmistakable fluttering of large moth wings. Utterly confused at this point, I'm wondering what kind of moth is in my room, how it got here in the first place, why it's out in the dead of winter, and where it is. Then I remembered the kritter keeper. I shine my flashlight over at it on my shelf, and sure enough, I see giant eyes glowing back at me attached to a hovering moth trying to get out.
I've since moved it to a bigger mesh enclosure, and it's calmed down a bit. But it just goes to show that just because a pupa doesn't hatch right away, doesn't mean it's dead. So don't throw it out!
During the summer, while all my various Saturniid moths were flying about, my 2 Manduca sexta caterpillars were finally starting to pupate. Once they pupated, they were both kept exactly the same, in the same enclosure, with the same light cycle. One of the moths eclosed about 3 weeks after pupation. That one has long since died. The second one never eclosed.
Despite suspecting it had died, I left the pupa in a kritter keeper I had set up as an eclosure tank. I put that KK to the side and completely forgot about it.
Fast forward 6 months or so (to today), and I'm getting cozy in bed, trying to sleep. I start hearing some loud thumping noises, but I just assumed it's one of my tarantulas at first and ignore it. But then I hear it again. This time, I decided to pause my TV and get a better listen.
That's when I heard it. The unmistakable fluttering of large moth wings. Utterly confused at this point, I'm wondering what kind of moth is in my room, how it got here in the first place, why it's out in the dead of winter, and where it is. Then I remembered the kritter keeper. I shine my flashlight over at it on my shelf, and sure enough, I see giant eyes glowing back at me attached to a hovering moth trying to get out.
I've since moved it to a bigger mesh enclosure, and it's calmed down a bit. But it just goes to show that just because a pupa doesn't hatch right away, doesn't mean it's dead. So don't throw it out!
