Ive, that looks like a fine chrysalis. Can't wait to see the butterfly in about two weeks!
I don't have any butterflies today because it pretty much rained all day long. Well, it was raining when I got up around 11:30 which is actually really early for it to be raining this time of year. I managed to catch a quick break to go pick caterpillar food and then it started pouring again. I ended up going to the movies and doing a double feature ("Chef" and "Edge of Tomorrow") but that's mostly because I wanted to be away from my family (they're annoying me again). But I did take some caterpillar photos for you guys. Oh! And in big news my boss got hold of three Hickory Horned Devil caterpillars (google them, they're awesome). I think she got some eggs too, but she was a little excited and incoherent on Facebook. I hope they're still caterpillars on Sunday; they were really big and she thought at least one would pupate soon.
Here's the Polydamas who have now molted.
When they molt, their head capsules and feet are light-colored for several minutes and then they darken up to match the rest of the caterpillar. I'm not sure why that happens, but it looks cool.
Here's another Polydamas group (I'm going to have to move them to a bigger tank, pronto) that is getting ready to molt. I don't understand how they can molt when they're so close together. I mean, they have to scoot forward to molt and you think the other caterpillars would be in their way. Still, I've seen them scoot in all directions to make it happen. The reddish colored one is closest to molting (hence, the color change). Plus, you can see his head capsule is lower on his body than it would normally be.
Raising Long-Tailed Skippers is hard, especially when they're small. And they don't get to be that big of a caterpillar so they're small for a while. With all their nest-building they can be hard to find. I just keep putting fresh food in there and figure they'll find it. I did find two of the cats today so that was good. The eggs are in there, too. Here, you can see how small these guys are in relation to my thumb. I love that their heads are so huge compared to their bodies. It evens out once they get big, though.
And just to show you another shot of my hand...
Here's what poison ivy apparently does to me. It's not that bad, though. It hardly itches. Yesterday, the skin felt kind of tight, but I keep putting hydrocortisone on it and it seems to help.
