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Baby caterpillars hatching from egg...
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17-04-2011 8:49am#1I mentioned my babies in this thread
Here are some photos, many through a microscope.
These are eggs of December Moth. They were laid in late December. Size is about 1mm across. These would usually be laid on bark, either on branch or trunk. Occasionally females come to light traps and lay eggs on the egg boxes.
The caterpillars eat leaves, so they wait until bud burst at this time of year. They eat their way out of the egg. Here is one nearly out.
Here is one on its way out. A couple of other eggs in this photo have been vacated. 3rd from top and one near bottom.
Hatching is quite synchronised with all hatching in a 36 hour period. They will crawl up the trunk in search of leaves to eat.
The little caterpillars which are about 3mm long are quite cute
Caterpillars of many species are easy to rear, but my children wern't interested so I didn't keep any and they are happy munching on a Rowan tree. There'll be no follow up pictures of the various stages. As the caterpillar grows, it needs to shed its skin which doesn't grow. This may happen about 6 times before pupating.13
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