Teach the "teapot":)

Community and Forum → Insects breeding → Teach the "teapot":)

дама Беатриса, 22.01.2014 22:46

Good day to all!
My story is this: a caterpillar of the Shestolapka spruce (coniferous) tree got into my house along with a New Year's tree. Such was the New Year's surprise - she was found on the couch (I don't know what she was doing there!), and everyone's home was blown away from there! There are no insect lovers in my family, so there was a suggestion to kick her out on the street. But I felt sorry to send the animal out in the cold, so I left it and tried to create tolerable living conditions for the caterpillar. A three-liter jar with fir branches was quite suitable for her. I named her Matilda and we became friends.
At first, she tried to escape and looked for a way out for three days. Then she calmed down and started eating. Meanwhile, I found her photo on the Internet and some information about her (but very little). And about a week later, she got worried again, ran around in circles for a day and began to wrap herself in a cocoon (forgive me for such terminology, but I'm absolutely not an expert!). And now, for twenty-four hours, she has been sitting in her "blanket" and sleeping.
I read that the Woolpaw caterpillar spends the winter like this, but what about in the spring? Will it wake up again, fatten up, then pupate and hatch into a butterfly? Actually, I have a question: what to do with it now? Put it out in the cold to bring it closer to natural conditions? (I have a glazed balcony, where the temperature is now +2-5 degrees?) And how to put it out-immediately or gradually accustom to the cold (now it is in the room)? Please give me some advice.

Pictures:

DSCF4727.JPG — (1004.79к)

Comments

23.01.2014 0:22, TEMPUS

In no case is it necessary to expose it to the cold! Its "biological clock" is already irreparably knocked down anyway, it will not be able to fall into diapause (wintering) a second time and will inevitably die. I'll explain why. As you have already found out for yourself (and quite correctly!), in the six-footed spruce (Calliteara abietis), the overwintering stage is the caterpillar. When the cold weather comes in autumn, the caterpillars stop feeding, fall into diapause (in simple, everyday language, the word "diapause" can be interpreted as "wintering") and spend the whole winter in this state until spring. When it gets warm enough in the spring, the caterpillars come out of this state and resume feeding. After a while, the caterpillar turns into a pupa, and after a while, a butterfly appears from the pupa. But this is when everything is normal, if the caterpillar is not disturbed during the wintering period. In your case, the following happened. In autumn, the caterpillar stopped feeding and fell into a state of diapause. Then, in the New Year's Eve period, she came to your house along with the tree on which she was sitting. It is clear that the temperature in a residential building in winter is many orders of magnitude higher than on the street (18-22 °C). Then the most interesting thing happens. Once in the conditions of residential premises and after staying in them for at least several days, the caterpillar's biological rhythms fail - processes begin to occur in its body that normally should have begun only in the spring. In a residential area, it's warm - so the caterpillar's body "thinks" that spring has "come". The caterpillar comes out of hibernation, begins to feed again, molts twice, increasing in size, and after a while turns into a pupa. After two to three weeks, a butterfly hatches from the pupa. Another interesting and important detail in your case is all types of butterflies of the family volnyanki (Lymantriidae), and this family also includes shestolapka spruce, before pupation they weave a cocoon, inside which they pupate.

What, in fact, happened in your case - the caterpillar crawled in circles for one day (which, by the way, is completely normal - the caterpillars of so many butterfly species behave restlessly before pupation) and began to weave a cocoon. The pupation process has begun - in a few days the caterpillar inside the cocoon will become a pupa, and in another two or three weeks a butterfly will come out of the cocoon.

In this situation, you need to do the following: First, in any case, do not take out the cocoon in the cold - for him this is certain death. Secondly, you need to ensure complete rest, do not disturb the cocoon with the pupa once again. It is desirable that the container with the cocoon should always stand in one place - as dark as possible (not in direct sunlight!) and heat. It is necessary to ensure moderate humidity - it would be good from time to time (in the morning every one or two days) to spray the cocoon with water from a flower sprayer (a little - one or two zilch). Third, in a container with a cocoon, it is necessary to provide a rough vertical surface so that after hatching from the pupa, the butterfly can climb on it in order to properly spread and dry its wings.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the sex of a butterfly at the caterpillar stage. This can only be done for the adult butterfly itself. So, until a butterfly hatches out of the cocoon, we will not be able to find out whether it is Matilda or not

. I will immediately say for the future that the sex of volnyanki in general and in shestolapki spruce in particular, is determined very simply-females are larger and more massive than males, the body is more round and thick, the antennae of males are densely pubescent, feathery, the antennae of females are thin, thread-like. This is clearly shown here: http://insectamo.ru/hete/99-hete/lymantrii...liteara-abietis (in the first two photos - males, in the third - a female).

Finally, I want to tell you that you are a great fellow! They didn't ask for advice, they were able to determine the type of your caterpillar themselves (and they determined it absolutely correctly!). So you're on the right track.

Likes: 1

23.01.2014 11:36, дама Беатриса

Tempus, thank you very much for the detailed answer!
I thought the caterpillar thought it was spring. Since I saw a baby pupa this morning! I was amazed that it happened overnight! Yesterday, a caterpillar was visible through a fluffy "blanket", and this morning-an opaque pupa! How does she do it? Amazing...
Yes, it's good that I didn't put it out in the cold - I decided to wait for advice from the forum, but in the morning I realized everything: I will wait for a butterfly

Wouldn't a branch fit her to sit on and dry her wings? Just some kind of birch or spruce. I'll give her humidity, and I'll give her darkness, too. Thank you for the link - I already saw these photos (when I was looking for information) and understood how to determine the sex of butterflies. But for caterpillars, it means nothing. Well, let's wait...
But what to feed it when it hatches? Flowers (what?), honey diluted with water, rotten fruit? Or what do butterflies eat? And how long will she live (with good care

? It's my night shift, isn't it? I'm just afraid that the cats won't eat it... I will protect you.

23.01.2014 14:01, TEMPUS

A birch or spruce branch, I think, will be enough. Just so that it is not very large and does not occupy the entire volume of the container - for normal spreading and drying of the butterfly's wings, a certain amount of free space will also be required.

As for nutrition and life span, unfortunately, I have to disappoint you.

Many moth-eared butterflies (alas, the number of such species includes the shestolapka spruce) in the adult state do not take any food at all. The whole point of their life boils down to finding a partner and producing offspring. And they live, respectively, not for long - only a few days, a maximum of a week. So in any case, you will not have to feed anything.

From cats, yes, it is necessary to protect. When I had a cat a few years ago, I had to take all sorts of precautions.

Good luck!

02.02.2014 23:43, дама Беатриса

Hello again! I'm here with the news.
Everything went well for Matilda, she hatched last night! It's only been a week and a half. It's a pity I didn't see the process itself - in the morning I was already ready

, in general, I saw how it happens: in our city there is such a "Butterfly Garden" where live tropical butterflies fly and there is a whole incubator where the pupae are hung in neat rows, and from there they slowly get out. But after all, your own, almost native - more interesting

By the way, it turned out to be a girl after all, so for sure - Matilda! But, for some reason, it is not very active. In the morning, I thought that she still "did not wake up" (night still). But even in the evening, she was not amused. He sits on a branch and says nothing, doesn't move. Maybe something is wrong? This afternoon I let her out for a walk around the room, she even flew a little. Sat on my hands for a while, and what's interesting: as soon as he sits on his hands, he starts working with his wings, it's so noisy, it almost cracks, but he doesn't fly anywhere. I thought maybe she was spreading her scent so that her date would find her. His job was to search, and hers to sit and wait. Or are my conclusions wrong?
And a terrible thing happened: Matilda lost two of her paws... With all my caution.... I hope this doesn't stop her from living a normal butterfly's life.

Pictures:

IMG_9091.jpg — (3.43мб)

IMG_9108.jpg — (1.27мб)

IMG_9074.jpg — (4.81 mb)

Likes: 6

Likes: 1

11.11.2014 11:04, Олька280889

Help!I'm new to the forum, found a suitable name, as I'm a teapot in the business of butterflies)))Today I was given four cocoons.One green ,three brown.Tropical butterflies .I hung them by strings on their tails on a vertical stick sticking out of an orchid!All I know about them is that they need heat and moisture.Here I warm them with a lamp and spray water from the iron from the pulivizer with ordinary cool water.how to be at night?!leave them a lamp (a regular desk lamp)or put it on the battery?!!will they dry up overnight?!so I sprayed them every 20 minutes all evening. The butterfly is green,it needs some specific care?!at one of the brown cocoons ,something was moving to scrub, one of the times I sprayed them.Maybe this is already part of the butterfly, which is unpleasant from heavy spraying? Help me,I don't understand anything about this business,but I really want butterflies to appear.I'll send you more emails for a complete understanding .My name is Olga.
Admin 2014-11-10 20: 49: 33
Maintaining humidity and wetting are completely different things. I would recommend you to place the pupae in a glass aquarium or jar, because it is glass that keeps moisture well. As for the temperature, it would be nice to place the thermometer in the jar, and adjust it by placing the jar at some distance from the radiator.

[Reply] [Reply with Quote]

Olka 2014-11-10 20: 57: 35
Thank you.I'm sorry,but I'll ask you a couple more, probably stupid questions.If in the jar, then put a wet sponge down, for example, or just spray the jar a little before placing it?!put them there in a vertical hanging position on a stick?!or do you need to untie them and put them down?!

[Reply] [Reply with quote]
0
Admin 2014-11-10 21: 04: 43
It is better to put a wet sponge so as not to constantly spray the jar. But the main thing is to avoid water at the bottom of the jar, so that when the butterfly gets out of the cocoon, it does not accidentally fall into the water.
Pupae must be in limbo.
Pay attention to the photo of the insectarium in the article, where all the pupae are placed in limbo. And in the lower part there are plants that are constantly sprayed and watered, thereby creating a humid environment in a glass cabinet.
I did so, and since one of the butterflies was moving in the cocoon,I put a dry piece of paper on the sponge in case the butterfly fell!But
I was in trouble.I woke up in the morning,and the butterfly that broke through yesterday still got out, but it is deformed somehow, or rather it does not have developed wings, sat first on a vertical stick, and then on a sponge, now it does not move at all.Dead, I think.It is also interesting that the green cocoon, which was dense and bright, became transparent and empty.The sponge is still wet, the can is 5 liters, the wings were where to spread.What should I do to avoid destroying two more cocoons?!

Did I write a message there!?The administrator has answered Dame Beatrice in such detail,and I hope to get the same detailed answer.