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I have some peacock caterpillars (which are eating me out of house and home at the moment!). Some of them have white spikes, is this usual?

Thanks.

Feed them wholemeal nettles, not that white bleached rubbish.

I'm having to feed them whatever I can find at the moment. Lmao. Perhaps they have eaten too much whitefly.

Susie wrote:I have some peacock caterpillars (which are eating me out of house and home at the moment!). Some of them have white spikes, is this usual?

Thanks.

The "white spikes" might only be visible following a skin change - after which they revert to the usual colour

Cheers,

- Pete

Ahhhh, thanks Pete, that'd make sense.

I watched a few of them shedding their skins yesterday and they do indeed come out with white spikes which rapidly expand and then darken up so you were right all along (not that I ever doubted you ).

Today a dozen or so of the caterpillars have had parasites (parasitoids I think is the correct term?) erupt. This is the whole reason I collected these caterpillars to breed on so I will send the cocoons off to BC for identification.

ALIENS ARE ATTACKING!!!!!







Probably not a suitable entry for the early stages competition

What on earth had attached those Lady birds, I could send you Nettles young and fresh, tons of bird foot trefoil, stacks of different plants, the only thing I cannot send you are Butterflies, because I haven't seen any, its been baking hot to-day and still I haven't seen any, I really have no idea where they've gone to. In the last week one Meadow Brown.
Shirley

Hi Susie,

They're certainly fly larvae and almost certainly a Tachinid species; maybe of the genus Phryxe, or possibly Sturmia; but I can't commit from a photo.

Gruesomely excellent photographs none the less.

Best regards,

Felix.

Thanks for the possible ID, Felix, it certainly is a fascinating process to watch.

Can anyone tell me if when the peacock caterpillars are ready to pupate they hand upside down from their hind claspers?

This is what the majority of the caterpillars are doing today and I am hoping that this is a sign that they are ready to pupate (they look big enough) rather than a sign that they cooked in the sun today and are dead.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: Having looked at Padfield's thread on his caterpillar from a few months back I am sure my chaps are about to pupate. I'm so pleased.

Any idea how long peacocks take in this state? I would hate for them to emerge when I am at work.

Susie wrote:Can anyone tell me if when the peacock caterpillars are ready to pupate they hand upside down from their hind claspers?

They sure are - and should be hanging in a "J" shape.

Susie wrote:Any idea how long peacocks take in this state? I would hate for them to emerge when I am at work.

2 (maybe 3) days before they turn into pupae. 2.5 to 3 weeks before they emerge.

All based on memory

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks, Pete, that is exactly what I needed to know.

And yes, they are hanging in "J" shapes.

Peacocks are coming along well.

They've hatched!!!

Well done!

I've been looking after the "dregs" from a larval web - taking 6 larvae that were the last 6 I could find!

I now have 1 pupa, and 5 Sturmia bella pupae

Although I did find 3 Small Tortoiseshell, 2nd brood, larval webs today, which cheered me up no end

Cheers,

- Pete

Well done, Pete.

I lost more than half of mine to parasites.

Most are the same kind of parasite as in the photos I posted above, one is something else.

This is the first time I have bred butterflies; it's amazing!

Great they have hatched but sorry for your losses I am still waiting while my large white caterpillars pupate (yes I have a lot of them) I lost a few but most of them are doing ok. Its always good to see peacocks when they hatch, I remember I bred 16 of them about two years ago and all managed to emerge as adults and its quite a sight to see them when they are fresh.

Well, it is because of the losses that I bred them in the first place so that I can record what the parasitoids are. It's a bit like being back at school, but more interesting.

I had a look at the parasite cocoons tonight and one of them has hatched this evening too. The timing is just amazing to coincide so closely with the butterflies (I know that umpteen years of evolution goes into getting this timing spot on, but I still find it incredible). Now I just need to find out what it is; it looks like some kind of wasp to me.