Thursday 26 May 2011

Ruby tiger moth

I found the caterpillar below ambling down a path in the field last month, and just managed to stop my dog stepping on it.  It looked like the Garden tiger, but was the wrong time of year, so I took it home to try to identify it and photograph it.  Well it is the Ruby tiger, and was on its way to build its cocoon.  It started to do this as I was putting my camera away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The cocoon should be built at the base of the foodplant, but it is now on the side of a plastic dish.  But I have put it is a safe place, and will leave it alone to see what happens.
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2 comments:

  1. Christina Manco 15 January 2016 at 19:26

    Hello! Did everything work out for your caterpillar? Pretty similar circumstances and I have no idea how long it takes for them to develop!
    Thank you!

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  2. Laura16 January 2016 at 07:21

    No, at least I don't think so. I put it half under the staging of my greenhouse and left it. The next time I looked the plastic dish had been knocked over and the cocoon destroyed. It might have hatched naturally and escaped as it is an old greenhouse with many holes, but I suspect a mouse got it.

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