My 7 green-veined white/small white caterpillars were all laid up for pupation yesterday and two pupated today - one in the morning and one in the evening.
I collected 9 eggs on 26th and 28th August, on small plants of annual wall rocket. At least one was definitely green-veined as I saw her lay it, but a female small white was active in the same patch. One egg never hatched. The others hatched between 4th and 6th September. One caterpillar was lost in 1st instar but all the others survived.
I placed two upright logs in the cage, in the hope some of the caterpillars would pupate on them, and there were two buckets with foodplant. I also stuck a branch in one bucket, in case a caterpillar wanted to climb that and pupate. In the end, all but one chose the netting, plastic or uprights of the cage, which I will now have to leave in place all winter!
This caterpillar is going through the contortions necessary to pass a girdle around itself:
Today it was sitting in the rain, waiting (the cage is outside and entirely open to the elements):
This one - the only one that chose a movable item - shows the girdle clearly:
This one chose the clear plastic viewing side of the cage:
This morning it had changed colour ...
... and by this evening had pupated:
This one, like the first above, chose an upright:
It pupated this morning:
This one chose the netting of the top of the cage:
This one the netting right next to an upright:
And this one another upright:
I have some males and some females. A few days ago I was able to photograph the embryonic testes on a male:
The proud mum of at least one (I saw her lay the first egg I collected), photographed on 26th August:
The possible mum of others (seen here on the same day, in the same patch, with the same foodplant to her right, rejecting a male):
Guy
Green-veined white/Small white pupation
- Padfield
- Administrator
- Posts: 8153
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:19 pm
- Location: Leysin, Switzerland
- Contact:
Green-veined white/Small white pupation
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
- Padfield
- Administrator
- Posts: 8153
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:19 pm
- Location: Leysin, Switzerland
- Contact:
Re: Green-veined white/Small white pupation
Two more pupated today, despite the filthy weather:
Guy
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
Re: Green-veined white/Small white pupation
Fascinating, Guy. Well done. Hopefully you'll have a few adults emerging next April.
- Vince Massimo
- Administrator & Stock Contributor
- Posts: 1851
- Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:36 pm
- Location: Crawley, Sussex
Re: Green-veined white/Small white pupation
Great stuff, Guy.
Those all look like Small Whites to me, so I suspect that your lone GVW was one of the casualties.
Hope all is well with you and your family.
Vince
Those all look like Small Whites to me, so I suspect that your lone GVW was one of the casualties.
Hope all is well with you and your family.
Vince
- Padfield
- Administrator
- Posts: 8153
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:19 pm
- Location: Leysin, Switzerland
- Contact:
Re: Green-veined white/Small white pupation
Thanks David and Vince.
When they reached 4th and 5th instar I did wonder about the lateral markings of most of the cats. But I couldn't access all of them for decent pictures and I hope there might be a green-veined or two among them still! The first three plants, with 6 eggs, came from exactly where the female green-veined was working, and as I say, I saw one of them being laid.
Another pupa had appeared this morning:
I think it is a good candidate for green-veined, as the yellow spots on the spiracles are single, not in pairs. But this is all new to me.
This was its caterpillar just before pupation:
These next pictures show a different pupa two days ago and today, showing the colour change since pupation:
Guy
When they reached 4th and 5th instar I did wonder about the lateral markings of most of the cats. But I couldn't access all of them for decent pictures and I hope there might be a green-veined or two among them still! The first three plants, with 6 eggs, came from exactly where the female green-veined was working, and as I say, I saw one of them being laid.
Another pupa had appeared this morning:
I think it is a good candidate for green-veined, as the yellow spots on the spiracles are single, not in pairs. But this is all new to me.
This was its caterpillar just before pupation:
These next pictures show a different pupa two days ago and today, showing the colour change since pupation:
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
- Padfield
- Administrator
- Posts: 8153
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:19 pm
- Location: Leysin, Switzerland
- Contact:
Re: Green-veined white/Small white pupation
A final update for 2020 (probably).
The seven pupae are all coloured up and settled in for hibernation. Following advice from Vince, I moved the cage into a permanently shady spot, where they should be safe from early emergence if we get sun in February or March. Vince actually preferred the option of detaching them from the netting and uprights and keeping them in a smaller pot, but I wanted to go for minimum interference. They are now between a conifer and an evergreen, in the shade of both:
And here are the pupae, in no particular order:
Guy
The seven pupae are all coloured up and settled in for hibernation. Following advice from Vince, I moved the cage into a permanently shady spot, where they should be safe from early emergence if we get sun in February or March. Vince actually preferred the option of detaching them from the netting and uprights and keeping them in a smaller pot, but I wanted to go for minimum interference. They are now between a conifer and an evergreen, in the shade of both:
And here are the pupae, in no particular order:
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html