Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Ectypia clio

8 more pictures in notes above! :) Hooray! Hooray!!! Sing to the high heavens, for Emerging Day has arrived!!! Miracles of all miracles, I can hardly believe my own two eyes!! I have had the distinct and awesome opportunity to successfully raise Clio Tiger Moths from eggs through all caterpillar stages, and through the month-long duration of their pupa stage as they transformed into adult moths, and now they are emerging in all of their incredible beauty for me to share with you!! The entire event from start to finish is simply AMAZING to me. I have never tried to raise caterpillars before, and I thought I might end up killing them all, but I have somehow managed to do a good job, as they are now hatching as adults, one by one, with wet and wrinkled wings. I find them after they wiggle out of their cocoons and sit still, slowly pumping blood into their wings to inflate and flatten them over the course of many hours as they dry. At night time I am releasing them onto the white railings on our back deck where they can sit safely camouflaged and when they are ready, they fly away into the night! Each will "overwinter", clinging to the bark of a tree until the springtime, when they will come out of their hibernation state and feed before mating and beginning the cycle all over again! Isn't it an amazing miracle?!! WOW!! I have a huge show to share tonight, with 7 different images of the moths and pupae about to hatch! I will make all of the images available for closer inspection but they will also be viewable here as insets on the picture above, which shows a newly emerged adult with rumpled wings! :) Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne; 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer who, in the mid-20th century, strongly influenced the revitalisation of the art of home cookery with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. Wikipedia: Elizabeth David

It takes several hours before these moth's wings flatten out and dry properly. Watching carefully, I could see this moth slowly pumping the wings, working blood into them to help inflate them. I coaxed this moth onto a milkweed pod so that I could take pictures. Thankfully it only needed to crawl a few steps, as I didn't want to disturb it. A few pictures later, I set it down on the pod and left it in peace. :)

This was the very first moth that emerged, and before I released it, I was able to get it to crawl onto my finger for a picture! They look like British royalty with those lovely tiger-striped wings! Not the same as the spotted ermine but I think lovelier by far! :) (Texture by Jerry Jones )

This moth has dried its wings and is clinging to the side of the habitat I have for them. Later I will release them outside on our white wooden railings. They will be safe from hungry birds with the perfect camouflage if they should stay for a day or two, but the ones that I've released so far have all flown away during the night!

I thought this position was just so funny looking when I saw it on my computer! Definitely one very cool moth, it reminds me of that stance I see rappers do sometimes with their arms crossed around themselves! :D So funny!

How beautiful these moths are. I don't know about you, but personally, I didn't know moths could be so pretty until I became a photographer. It never occurred to me that moths could be as lovely or moreso than butterflies! What a reward for me to see dozens of them after the months of caring for them! A true and utter delight! (Texture by Jerry Jones )

(many text notes above) This moth is just about to emerge and you can see it clearly inside the cocoon! In fact, if you look carefully, you can see the antennae! (look for the notes on the picture to see different points of interest)

(many text notes above) I took this picture so that you can see its eyes and antennae, clearly visible in the coccoon. A few hours later, this moth emerged and I showed Steve...and then I showed him the picture of it in the cocoon. He was amazed. So am I, so am I! :)

4 more pictures + 2 notes above in notes! :) Last night when I went to bed, a couple of the caterpillars that I am raising looked strange. Peering closely at them, I realized that all of their "fancy hair" was gone, and all that remained were some stiff prickles. My first thought was that they were dying, but then I immediately put it together: they are beginning to "pupate", which means they are preparing to change from a caterpillar to a pupa. Most moths form cocoons around their bodies, though a few species crawl underground and pupate without forming a cocoon. Clio Tiger Moths will often form a nest from their own hair where they will be protected from predators and the elements while they are in their cocoons. However, just as the information I've read has said, not all caterpillars choose to pupate and form cocoons in nests. This morning I looked into the habitat and discovered that the "sickest-looking" one had formed a cocoon during the night!! Absolutely AMAZING!!! To think. I took a little 2" stick home with some eggs on it. The eggs hatched into about 50 1/16" caterpillars, and over the course of many weeks, grew into 2" caterpillars and now they are forming cocoons...which means that in time they will emerge as adult Clio Tiger Moths...and I've gotten to see every stage except the emerging! Isn't it just the coolest thing EVER?! :D The above picture shows two views of the pupa I saw this morning. The image in the lower right was taken this afternoon as the cocoon as matured! So fascinating! If you would like to know more about the pupa stage in moths and butterflies, Wiki has a very good page here! Wikipedia: Pupa Thanks to Jerry Jones for the two textures I used for the background: Well Worn 1 and Fire Damage 10-21-09 TOTD # 87

3 notes above to explain what you're looking at! :) I wanted you to see what a pre-pupating caterpillar looks like without all of its fancy hair! These are the only ones that aren't in a nest, and I carefully placed them on our counter, along with the mature cocoon. On the lower right, you will see the shed skin, legs and outer eyes of the pupa that is in the cocoon! This change is just totally amazing to me!!!

I was faced with a bit of a dilemma today, because I like to clean my caterpillar habitat every day to keep the environment healthy, but when the caterpillars began making nests, they adhered them to the sides of the habitat, and I didn't want to hurt or disturb them. However, I realized that it wouldn't hurt or bother them if I carefully detached the nests, and I really didn't have a choice. The largest nest was the one I was most curious about because it looked like many caterpillars had created a massive nest to pupate in as a group. Investigating was fascinating. First I detached it so I could lift it up. I carefully lifted up one corner and found lots of large, but not pupating, caterpillars snoozing under the warm blanket. Lifting the nest off the ground, I detached a few caterpillars which weren't ready to pupate yet, but were a bit caught in the nest. Then I held the nest up with the sun behind it and looked at the amazing sight! I could see many different pupating caterpillars forming the nest!! It was so wonderful to be able to show this pair of pictures so that you can enjoy this cool experience too! Notice that the silhouetted image in the note above is the SAME as the main image, except that the sun is shining through it! Incredible! I also have another inset image which shows a single nest. The extra blob you see is the shed skin that I showed in the previous picture. WOW WOW WOW...just WOW!!! I hope you liked the show, I know this kind of thing isn't for everyone, but I also know that a bunch of you are just as interested as I am in the life cycles of the animals we find! :) Such a fascinating adventure this has been! :)

3 more pictures above in notes! :) If you would like more information about this wonderful adventure from the start, this page (click) has all the pictures I've taken inset in the main image, along with the story! Yesterday after Steve got home from work, I brought my caterpillar habitat over to the counter so I could look at them. Taking the lid off, Steve exclaimed, "OMG, are they moldy?!!!!" "No," I said in delight, "They're making nests!! Inside the nest, there is a caterpillar turning into a pupa, and it uses its own hair to create this nest, which protects them from predators and from the elements! Isn't that cool?!!" Steve and I were completely fascinated by the new developments in the habitat. I'd noticed that in the past couple of days, the number of leaves consumed had begun to slow down. Thank goodness, because I've been starting to get worried about their food supply. It's dry as a bone outside and the milkweed plants are almost all dried up and dead now. There are still enough plants left to get leaves from for another couple of weeks, but not a lot. I was incredibly relieved to see that the largest caterpillars, otherwise known as "5th instars" are finally turning into pupas. (Here is a picture of a Clio Tiger Moth pupa .) Did you know that almost all insects go through dramatic changes as they grow from hatchling to adult? Each time they moult, it is considered another "instar", and each instar usually looks different, sometimes vastly different! In fact, this is why it can be so hard to identify insects, since it's so difficult to tell if the insect you're looking at is an adult or a developing instar! Fascinating, isn't it? I don't know how long it will take for the pupa stage. Some information says 10-14 days. Other information says as long as 4-6 months. I wish I knew! I'll try to find out though, so wish me luck! I did find some pictures and a bit of information showing nests and pupa in case you're interested: Wild Utah: Clio Tiger Moth Larvae

3 pictures above in notes! ENJOY! When I found out the weekly challenge was "Measurements", I had fun thinking about what I should take pictures of. Then, I went to take care of my caterpillars and it hit me! I sang out loud to my big, fat, fluffy caterpillars, "Inchworm... Inchworm... measuring the Marigold... you and your arithmetic... you'll probably go far..." All night long I was humming that song! :D This morning I found a caterpillar that was an inch long and used him as a model on my ruler! Then, I took him outside an placed him on one of my Marigold seedlings and he measured the stem for me... 1" long! :D (see the inset picture!) If you'd like to see the video from "Hans Christian Andersen", it's just wonderful and features Danny Kaye singing "Inchworm"...ENJOY!!! :D "Inchworm" from "Hans Christian Andersen" (I have two other picks for Bokeh Thursday in the next images! :)

10...yes, TEN more pictures in notes above! ENJOY THE SHOW!! :D I can't believe how much fun I've been having raising caterpillars from eggs! To bring you up to date, I brought a small twig into the house on July 25, which had some eggs on it. I discovered that they were from Clio Tiger Moths after finding one laying eggs exactly like the ones I had. Although the stick was literally only a tiny fraction of the number I found, I was amazed when the eggs hatched and there were so many itty bitty caterpillars crawling around! They were so small I could just barely see them! I got them some milkweed leaves to eat, and every day since I've been bringing them fresh leaves and keeping their habitat clean and increasing the size of their container as they've grown. (You can read the original story of the caterpillars here: Piggy 'Pillar!! ) Now, I have read that caterpillars grow fast, but I've never raised them before now, and I have to tell you: it's absolutely AMAZING how fast they grow!!! In one month's time, they have grown from about 1/16" in size to about 1.5" for the largest ones!! It's just incredible to me! In order to get that huge so quickly, all they do during the night is eat, and they sleep all day like a bunch of gluttenous oinkers! :D Today I wanted to show one of the big ones next to a quarter so you can see how huge they've become! At last count, I have about 50 of them, which is surprising because only about 5 of them have died. As I'm sure you probably know, the reason so many eggs are layed is because the survival rate is extremely low, so with the huge number of offspring, at least a few may make it to adulthood. We'll see how many live until pupal stage, but I will bet it will be at least 40. The largest are getting close to pupal stage, and I just can't wait to watch that show!! STAY TUNED!!! I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Fire Damage 10-21-09 TOTD # 87 image for the edging! THANKS JERRY!! :) George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Wikipedia: Orson Welles Explored on August 27, 2013. Highest position, page 3 (#65).

2 more pictures in notes above! :) Here you can see just how HUGE these caterpillars are getting! But as they grow, their hair styles change! I think this version is especially fancy and spectacular, don't you?! :D Did you know that caterpillars molt as they grow? These caterpillars leave behind tiny, fluffy "pompadours", and as they grow larger, the "pompadours" get larger too! My husband thinks that I may be certifiably insane because I can't bear to throw away the fluffy little "wigs"...so, one of these days you will all get to see my collection of tiny little caterpillar "wigs"! :D :D They look like miniature Tribbles! :D

1 picture above in a link! :D This guy really would like to get back to bed and isn't interested in helping me out with size comparisons! But isn't he adorable?!! :D I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Netherworld TOTD # 128 image! THANKS JERRY!! :)

It was pretty funny trying to keep this guy near the quarter. He kept crawling away, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep! :D Poor fellow, I made sure to tuck him back in with his buddies after this picture! :)

2 more pictures in notes above! :) Would you just look at these adorable little cutie pies?!! Now repeat after me: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! :D :D I had a difficult time seeing where to focus because they were so impossibly tiny! However, I managed to get lots of really neat pictures and I thought the best way to share them would be in a collage! A couple of them I left as single pictures because I thought they were best appreciated at a larger size. I hope you like them! :D