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Post by freakindenial on Jul 13, 2019 14:54:01 GMT
Hello! I just found a very cute caterpillar and need to know what it is so I can know what to give her to eat. She is green with very very tiny orange dots on each side. No hair, no weird tail. About 2.5centimeters. Im from Portugal and she was found in the Lisbon area. Its pretty hot here now and she was in a kind of deserted area which i think its pretty strange. The only thing near her was a almond tree but she was on the ground beneath. I tried cauliflower leaves and basil leaves... She doesnt seem interested.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 13, 2019 17:01:27 GMT
A photo would help. Please see collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/11/attach-picture for details how to include photos in posts. I strongly recommend using a free photo hosting site such as imgur.com. Upload your photo there, copy the link for forums and paste it into the post here. You will find more detailed instructions in the link. Meanwhile, I suggest you try almond leaves since that's the only thing green around where it was found. It is also possible that the larva has finished eating and wandered off to find a place to pupate. If so it will not eat even the right plant. Some species pupate by hanging from the side of an object (tree, wall, stick etc) but others burrow into soft soil or under dried leaves. You could put some soil into the container with some leaf litter, a stick angled across the box and also fresh almond leaves, the larva will choose what it wants to do. Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 13, 2019 22:52:05 GMT
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 14, 2019 6:31:05 GMT
I think Jan is correct.
Put a stick in a box so it is angled from top to bottom corners and it will pupate on that. Close the box and leave it alone for about a week, and after you check it again it should have pupated successfully.
The larva will have been feeding on Prunus somewhere nearby.
Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 14, 2019 10:50:06 GMT
Thank you Jan and Adam! She already has a stick on her little box. It’s transparent so I can check how she is doing without disturbing her. Any other advices? I put the box outside in a shady spot because of the heat...
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 14, 2019 14:29:17 GMT
Definitely keep it in the shade, well away from direct sunlight. It would be safe to keep inside the house, even in airconditioning if the box is airtight. It may pupate on the wall or lid of the box as well as on the stick. It depends on whether the silk thread can stick to the plastic or not. I expect it will find a place to pupate in the next few hours and then spin a silk pad and a girdle round its middle to hang from. It will hold the silk pad with its rearmost pair of legs and form an L shape. At this stage it is called a prepupa, rather than a larva. Then maybe 2 days later it will shed its skin and become a pupa. You should not move or tilt the box once it forms the prepupa, until about 24 hours after shedding its larval skin when the pupa should be fully dried. If the angle it is hanging at changes the silk girdle can cause the pupa to become deformed and the adult will not develop properly. Once it has hardened it is perfectly safe to move it.
I expect the adult butterfly will hatch in 2-3 weeks, so once it has pupated successfully you will need to take the stick out of the box and hang it up, or open the box if it pupated on the side or lid. Keep it well away from rats or other animals that could eat it, but I do not recommend keeping it in airconditioning as it will dessicate. You will know when it is going to hatch because a day or two beforehand you will start to see it darken, particularly the eyes may darken first, then the evening before it will hatch the whole pupa will gradually colour up, and you will start to see the wing markings through the wing cases.
Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 14, 2019 16:06:00 GMT
She is in the back garden of the house where it is a lot less hot and she won’t be in direct sun. I hope she does that soon... she isn’t moving a lot since yesterday and I’m a bit worried. We don’t have air conditioning because the house even in the pick of summer is extremely cold. that's why I put her outside. Inside it might be too cold for her.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 14, 2019 17:13:17 GMT
It sounds as if you have done as much as you can. Unfortunately if something goes wrong there really isn't anything much that you can do to help. You just have to wait and see what happens. Please keep us informed, and if there are any updates I will try to advise further if I can.
Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 16, 2019 7:18:40 GMT
She is doing good so far. she is on the twig now. I do have another mistery though... I have a cocoon on one of my trees for months now, we actually didn’t prune the tree because of it. xD but it’s been so long I’m not even sure it’s alive or not... I took some pictures: imgur.com/D65ypRyimgur.com/YomjOB6imgur.com/fnVFud2imgur.com/Iq1E2EnThe tree is some kind of decorative cyprus... not sure what.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 16, 2019 8:09:27 GMT
She is doing good so far. she is on the twig now. I do have another mistery though... I have a cocoon on one of my trees for months now, we actually didn’t prune the tree because of it. Good news about the larva, it should pupate soon. The 'cocoon' is actually an egg case of a praying mantis. There will be many eggs inside this case, and they haven't hatched yet. After they hatch you will see holes along the front where the baby mantids have emerged. Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 16, 2019 12:09:32 GMT
Really? That sounds so awesome! How long do they take to hatch? Also is it safe for them if I can the branch it’s on and put it somewhere else? Just so we can prune the tree... they are carnivores right? They don’t eat the tree...
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 16, 2019 20:33:32 GMT
It should be safe to cut the branch that the egg case (correctly called an ootheca, but I didn't want to confuse you at first) is attached to without any risk to the developing mantids inside.
I don't know how long they take to hatch, but it could be several months at least. I am guessing that they may be stimulated to hatch when it rains.
Indeed mantids eat other insects and will not eat the tree.
Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 17, 2019 7:15:36 GMT
I very rarely see mantis in my area so I’m pretty thrilled. If I cut the branch won’t it hurt the ootheca when it dries? (I’m in love with that word btw, but I already knew it from reading about tarantulas. Crazy animal girl here xD).
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 17, 2019 8:18:06 GMT
I very rarely see mantis in my area so I’m pretty thrilled. If I cut the branch won’t it hurt the ootheca when it dries? (I’m in love with that word btw, but I already knew it from reading about tarantulas. Crazy animal girl here xD). No, if the branch dries out it won't hurt the ootheca.They can be laid anywhere by the mother mantis, even on dead sticks or a brick wall. Adam.
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Post by freakindenial on Jul 18, 2019 21:10:39 GMT
I went to check on the caterpillar and she isn't realy moving and still hasnt began to make the cocoon... Should I worry?
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