ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS > OTHER INSECTS BOTH GOOD AND BAD FOR THE GARDEN

What is this devil?

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twintrades:
Lol cool pics I love see your updates

BlueBee:
OK, I risked the Wrath of Khan and pawed through the bottom of the trash can / saw dust where the devil has been pupating for the last few days.  This is what I found.  I pulled him out of the trash can and put him in a smaller container so I could watch the process better.  I was amazed how shriveled up this big beast has become. 

BlueBee:
I took the camera out to take a photo of the big pupae of the Hickory Horned devil when I heard something rustling about in the dark cabinet where I was keeping the HHD and the tomato worms I experimented with.

Turns out half the tomato worm pupae had hatched out and were now moths trying to escape.  Here’s a photo of what a tomato worm turns into before it pumps up it’s wings.



I was astonished that the tomato worm pupae didn’t go into diapause (dormancy) for the winter.   We’ve only got another month of foliage left for the bugs to eat.  There really isn’t time for another cycle of tomato worms on my tomato plants. 

My guess is the tomato worms should have gone into diapause but didn’t because they were too warm where I was keeping them.  I had them in a warm dark cabinet, probably never got below 65F on average.  Whereas in their natural habitat underground, it's colder and damper than 65F.   

I suppose the lesson learned here is:  don’t let your earth pupators get too warm before next spring

BlueBee:
Here at last, is what that big fat hickory horned devil caterpillar turned into after it got done eating; a rather sizable pupae!


This would normally winter underground, but I will be wintering it in a Rubbermaid with sawdust of some sort.  Come next spring, it should hatch out in a big Regal Moth.

I think there is a way to tell the males from the females at this point, but I’ll have to check into that.  I’ve been told the females are generally the larger pupae.

Francus:
Wonderful pics. Keep 'em coming!

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