The female of the species
About 6 weeks ago, we had a flourishing curry leaf plant. But let me sequel to the prior post on the common mormon life cycle we witnessed. A few weeks later, two more caterpillars appeared. We got them in and proceeded to rear them as before. They both died, one after the other. The pesticides in the commercial leaves we fed them?
So, when about 6 weeks ago we saw SIX of them on our curry leaf potted plant, we decided to leave well alone. As they grew, in just a few days, they stripped the plant bare. Also, 3 disappeared, one after the other. We bought another one, and transferred the remaining 3 to it. They stripped it bare, too. And two more vanished. The remaining one got into pupating position, and we got it inside.
The pupa was different from the earlier one - it was green.
It took exactly 2 weeks, I guess because it's winter. And this time, we got a female! We were lucky to see her just after she'd exited the pupa, tho we missed her getting out. This time, both of us were there!
See the crimson spots, which show it's a female. She took a couple of hours to fly away.
So, when about 6 weeks ago we saw SIX of them on our curry leaf potted plant, we decided to leave well alone. As they grew, in just a few days, they stripped the plant bare. Also, 3 disappeared, one after the other. We bought another one, and transferred the remaining 3 to it. They stripped it bare, too. And two more vanished. The remaining one got into pupating position, and we got it inside.
The pupa was different from the earlier one - it was green.
It took exactly 2 weeks, I guess because it's winter. And this time, we got a female! We were lucky to see her just after she'd exited the pupa, tho we missed her getting out. This time, both of us were there!
See the crimson spots, which show it's a female. She took a couple of hours to fly away.
posted by AnJ at 11:12 AM
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