Cecropia Moth Project, Day 13

2nd instar caterpillar. Resembles a school bus.

It is day 13, and almost all of the caterpillars are now in the 2nd instar stage. We are waiting on three stragglers who have been sitting motionless since yesterday, so they should be molting soon.

The 2nd instar caterpillars are eating a lot and growing quite large. They have developed black spiny bristles, which look scary but are actually harmless. Some caterpillars do develop poisonous bristles as a defensive measure, but these Cecropia caterpillars operate on pure deceit.

2nd instar caterpillars plus a small 1st instar. The arrow points to shed skin left behind.

We are beginning to get a sense of what to expect from future instar stages as far as consumption and size. We will not be able to sustain 14 of these gluttons, and we've decided that we will keep 3. The rest we will release onto one of the maples from which we've been taking leaves.