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Sat, Jul 2, 11 at 13:15
| Found this one just barely alive under a mature oak tree.
Thanks,
View of the bottomside
View of the topside
Showing relative size to lens cover. About as large as a tomato hornworm.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Sat, Jul 2, 11 at 14:02
| It's a luna moth, Bob. Hopefully, it just needs to find a place to make its cocoon. Have you tried putting it back on the tree? Sherry |
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| If it cannot move, put it in a smooth bottom container. If it has no health/parasite issues, it will pupate without its flimsy cocoon. ID trick I tell people is green face=luna, brown face=poly KC |
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Sat, Jul 2, 11 at 15:41
| Are those parasitic cocoons near the head of the cat? 'Hope they aren't! I just look for the yellow line, KC - yellow line, luna - no yellow line, poly. Sherry |
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| Those look like tachinid fly eggs, to me. The adult glues the little eggs to the outside of the host caterpillar, often close to the head capsule, I think. Anyhow, when the eggs hatch, the larvae will chew its way to the innards of the host. Tachinids don't make little cocoons when they are ready to pupate. |
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| But my way is clearly better. ;D All my lunas are 5th instar right now. I wanted to refresh my memory on what a 2nd instar looks like. I did a Google images on "luna moth caterpillar." Quite a few of the "luna" cats don't seem to have a stripe down their side or a green face. Must be some local variations ;) |
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