This post has taken a while to get to! Between getting used to the new routine of full days at school/nursery for two of the children, their weekly dance lessons, me doing my DSA fundraiser, potty training, the days becoming shorter and starting to work a few evenings a week at the local pub I haven't had the energy or time to document this.
On the 23rd of August this year the two youngest ones and I found this caterpillar on the porch outside the front of our house. I was delighted to stumble upon a caterpillar and dashed off to grab the tupperware box I usually use to keep caterpillars.When I came back it was gone. Despite telling the middle child "Do NOT touch it" she had poked it and it had fallen down between the slabs. Just by chance (because quite a few of the steps are ridiculously loose - the landlord has been informed) I could see it. I reached it with a twig and managed to, gently, coax it out. It had rolled itself up when it fell and was neatly enclosed in a leaf! I wasn't 100% sure what it was but thought it was possibly a Painted Lady caterpillar. Whatever it was I was fairly certain it was close to pupating. It seemed to be very far away from any food plant.
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| RA 23.08.19 |
Within less than 24 hours in our house it started to look like it was becoming shorter but fatter, preparing to pupate.
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| RA 24.08.19 |
Two days after finding the caterpillar it had formed it's chrysalis. There were faint gold flecks in lines on the outside, as it was newly made it was fairly green in colour
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| RA 25.08.19 |
On the same day as the Red Admiral caterpillar formed it's chrysalis I found another caterpillar munching away on my red weigela shrub.
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| AS 25.08.19 |
I brought it in, as it seemed to have been feeding on my shrub I decided to keep it, it went through one leaf a day during the time it was in caterpillar form. I quickly deducted that it was an Angle Shades moth caterpillar. I had only seen an adult one once before, about a year ago. They are stunning moths so I looked forward to seeing it emerge.
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AS 26.08.19
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As I usually do I kept the caterpillars in tupperware boxes with air holes, I generally add a stick as soon as possible to give them somewhere to hang their chrysalis from (As you can tell from the Red Admiral they still pick the lid or side of the box sometimes).
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| RA 26.08.19 |
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| AS 26.08.19 |
After some research I discovered that the Angle Shades caterpillar would create it's chrysalis in soil though, so I added a bit of soil to the bottom of the tub. When keeping caterpillars you need to clean out their container regularly. One thing I noticed about the Angle Shades frass (poo from insect larvae) was that it was much larger and harder than any of the other species I've kept to date.
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| AS frass 27.08.19 |
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| AS 30.08.19 |
On the 31st August I noticed that the caterpillar had disappeared and there was a lump of soil, when I lifted it up I noticed this underneath. It had started making a cocoon of the soil to protect it while it pupated. When it was finished it was completely enclosed in soil. It stayed in there for just over 3 weeks.
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| 31.08.19 |
On the 7th of September I realised that the Red Admiral chrysalis looked different, no wonder, it was empty. In my butterfly cage was a beautiful fresh specimen. The next day it really heated up and the sun was out so I decided to set it free. I wouldn't have minded keeping it fed indoors for another day or two, but at this time of year you never know how long it will be warm for so I didn't want to miss the perfect conditions for letting it go. Here's a video of it being placed upon one of our buddleia plants as well as a few photos of it before it flew away.
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| RA 08.09.19 |
A few weeks later, on the 25th of September, about three weeks after the Angle Shades caterpillar had pupated, it was its turn to emerge. I have seen one once before, but this one was even more magnificent. My photos don't do it's colours justice as the greens and pinks were much brighter.
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| AS 25.09.19 |
Below is the empty chrysalis casing that I found in the clump of dirt that the caterpillar had spun around itself. I have a few Cinnabar moth caterpillars that pupated in soil during the summer and they look much the same. There'll be a separate post about them next year when they emerge as they will overwinter in my garage.
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