A happy day: the hatching has happened of two of my remaining pupae from the brood of 25 Emperor Moth caterpillars I reared from eggs left in the trap by a female in May 2014. Today's were a male and a female and they are now at large in Walthamstow, on the fringe of Epping Forest, where I took them to show our granddaughter. She has a brother, hatched six days ago, so the timing was nice.
Martin Wainwright, Thrupp, Oxon
Nice one, Martin! Over-wintering twice in the pupal stage is not uncommon (I once had one which went over three winters) and proves that it is well worth hanging on to unhatched cocoons. I've had no emergences yet this year but they don't normally start here until the second week of the month.
ReplyDeleteOne way or another....congratulations.
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