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| Behold - the yellowing of the Cecropia caterpillar |
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| Cecpropia caterpillars gathered together |
The Cecropia caterpillars are now seven days old. They have been splitting their time between resting and eating, and we see huge chunks of maple leaf being devoured.
We've noticed that some of the caterpillars seem to be more social than others, gathering closely together on one leaf to eat and rest.
While most of the caterpillars are growing and taking on strong yellow highlights (almost time for the 2nd instar stage), one little guy seems to be struggling. He has fallen off of leaves several times, and he's much smaller than the others.
Another issue we're having is the stick that we placed in the habitat. We noticed a small hole near the end of it, and it appears that some kind of woodboring insect is living inside. Several inches down from this hole we found some miniscule oblong egg-type things that had dropped from another opening. We are going to remove the stick and the eggs, and also stop using the dirt. It seemed like a good idea, but in both cases - the dirt and the stick - there may be something living inside that could kill the caterpillars or spread disease.
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| Cecropia caterpillar, taking on yellow highlights |
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