Today I want to introduce to a really cool creature that looks like a tiny dragon:
(credit)
Did I say dragon? I take that back. It actually looks more like a Guarados to me:
(credit)
So what's a Gyarados? Gyarados is a Flying, Water type pokem...fuck.. No!
Excuse me, Gyarados is the most badass pokemon so it's easy to get sidetracked. Let's get back to the caterpillar.
So, the critter depicted above is the caterpillar stage of the regal moth, scientifically described as Citheronia regalis. Another common name for the species is the royal walnut moth while caterpillars are commonly known as hickory horned devils.
The adult (moth) stage of the species is pretty spectacular too:
(credit)
Although the photo doesn't make it much justice, this is one big motherfucker! Females are slightly bigger than males and can get to be about 5-6 inches long, almost as long as the average... 0.5 L beer can! Yeah, the average human penis you just thought is also about the same size :)
Just have a look at this video to get an idea how massive they are:
Adults get quite big too, with a wingspan of 3 15/16 - 6 1/4 inches (10 - 16 cm) they are amongst the biggest caterpillars in they area they inhabit.
Wanna see one of those little fuckers from up close? Then you should know that the species is distributed from New York west through southern Michigan and Illinois to eastern Kansas; south to central Florida, the Gulf states, and east Texas. Here, this map will help:
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Wondering what they eat? The caterpillars gorge on all kinds of plants including:
- Black walnut (J. nigra)
- Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
- Cultivated cotton
- Hickories (Carya)
Pecan (C. illinoensis) - Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana),
- Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua
- Sumacs (Rhus)
As for adults, they simply don't feed!
As for their lifecycle, it's nothing special. There is one brood per year, with moths emerging from May through mid-September depending on the area. Adults usually emerge late in the evening, mate the next day and females lay the eggs on host plants the next day after that. It takes about 7-10 days for the yellowish eggs to hatch.
The caterpillars molt 4 times and look quite different after each molting, taking them about 40 days to finally evolve into a moth . It's during the fifth and last instar when they look like dragons. Here's a photo from the first instar, definitely not as impressive:
(credit)
So, I think I got all the basics covered about this amazing critter! Just visit wikipedia if you want to learn more!
By the way, remember that mini greenhouse I had reviewed? No? Ok, here's the photo I had posted about 20 days ago:
My plants grew quite a bit since, and it was quite sunny today so I decided to transplant them in my balcony. Here's how they look today:
1. Dwarf Nasturtium
2. Basil
Now after the fact, I notice the angle I took the photos is quite bad and can't give you a good idea of how much bigger they grew! Oh well, I am not home now, I guess I will post some more photos tomorrow :P
Unfortunately, the lavender seeds didn't germinate but I'll try again tomorrow with a new batch of seeds so wish me luck! And with the weather starting to get better I will start early-germinating various seeds in-doors to catch this growing season early on!
Hope you enjoy gardening as much as I do because I plan to bombard you with my gardening updates among the other shit I post!