I watched in amazement this morning as one of the peacock larvae i have been rearing at home decided to turn into a pupa. The whole event took just 3 minutes, amazing. I could not believe the speed of it and eventually it looked like the head casing fell off, is this correct. I always wandered how long this process took and how it happened but i now know.
Marc Heath
Peacock Pupa
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Pete Eeles
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Hi Marc,
When pupating, the larval skin typically splits at the head, with the pupa then wriggling out of the larval skin (which includes the head casing). The result is that the old skin is completely shed at the tail end of the pupa.
The interesting thing (I find) is that for some species, such as the Peacock, the pupa needs to somehow wriggle out of the larval skin and attach itself (by its cremaster) to the silk pad formed by the larva. When the larva hangs upside down (in some species such as the Peacock) this is quite unnerving (to watch) since you half expect it to plummet to the floor!
Cheers,
- Pete
When pupating, the larval skin typically splits at the head, with the pupa then wriggling out of the larval skin (which includes the head casing). The result is that the old skin is completely shed at the tail end of the pupa.
The interesting thing (I find) is that for some species, such as the Peacock, the pupa needs to somehow wriggle out of the larval skin and attach itself (by its cremaster) to the silk pad formed by the larva. When the larva hangs upside down (in some species such as the Peacock) this is quite unnerving (to watch) since you half expect it to plummet to the floor!
Cheers,
- Pete