u/entomolonerd

cutworm pupae have gotta be some of the absolute cutest lil things around, especially the colours for quite brown/greyish caterpillars

spotted this guy in a park a while ago, and totally thought i was hallucinating. these guys look like little wooden toys!!

!!! you can see the legs and wing patterns and everything perfectly through the pupae casing!!

check out that silver y wing pattern developing!!! super super exciting :3

this lil guy is just bigger than my thumbnail, so it feels a little like an understatement to just call them a small dusty wave :3

had my second silver y eclose today! this one pupated without a tent, so i had to carefully monitor it, but they made it without any defects from what i can see!! they even managed to successfully fly off without interference :3 and such a totally stylish hairstyle!

i cant tell, but it looks like this caterpillar may not have shed its old head cap correctly. still alive and moving around.

(silver y, england)

a very friendly, freshly pupated silver y moth allowed me to get some really good close up shots! super exciting, since these guys usually dont stay very still

im a bit worried about one of my silver ys, as i noticed these brown spots on them while checking on their enclosure

could this be a parasitoid?? these marks must have come up very recently, and their enclosure stays closed as much as possible, so im not sure when or how it would have happened

im mostly worried about the mark in the second picture, as it looks kind of like a wound?

no blood/green spit, moving kinda slow but that could be me catastrophizing, all the other cats seem fine and i checked their enclosure but couldnt find anything else suspicious

i didnt know caterpillars could be so sassy....

ive been trying to get a video all summer long of the grasshoppers making their extended chirps, and i finally got one!! such a handsome little guy too :3

one of my silver y caterpillars had just started on its tent (not pupating quite yet), and i wonder if i should separate them from the rest? in my head i figure yes, but i just want to make sure!

found in nw england

hard to the touch (like a glass bead kinda?), found on the edge of a caterpillar's tent (silver y if that matters)

about half a cm big, no visible legs, tear drop shape

im guessing its some kind of egg or pupa? not sure :3

edit: looking at it more, i think it could be a hoverfly pupa? ive had some larvae about, but i dont know enough about them to be sure ....

i have a whole bunch of these lil guys hanging out in my garden rn, and their eyes!!!!!! aaaa!!!! they hold themselves so politely too hehe

i found a significantly damaged caterpillar tent (likely caused by the terrible weather or another insect/creature) and a caterpillar lethargic under it, so placed them in a container. to my surprise, theyve now started pupating!!

its a good sign that theyve managed to form a chrysalis, so ill keep monitoring their progress and (fingers crossed) they emerge without issue!

any advice would be greatly appreciated, they arent attached to anything (despite me trying to get them attached to a qtip and a leaf whilst still a caterpillar)

found this guy ~2 months ago in a pile of tree offcuts where i then spent an hour searching through the pile to find him again to get a better photo! super super exciting to see, though i will admit i thought my eyes were acting up on me :3

since then, ive seen another (different type of) grasshopper with erythism!