Two bell jars hold a place of honor on my porch. Traditionally, these jars were used to protect spring plants from the cold. People occasionally re-purpose them to cover food items in a decorative manner, and to keep said food- pest free. I use them to keep "insects" in.
These jars aid in the early stages of caterpillar raising. They are ideal containment units for early instars of moths or butterflies. There is some irony, right?
This is a batch of
Cecropia moth eggs which recent hatched caterpillars. The wee ones are feeding on fresh cherry leaves from my yard as seen below.
Caterpillars go through numerous stages of "instars" or sheddings. The earliest instars (like this tiny black form) are often unrecognizable. We will see these little fellers change very quickly in the next couple of weeks.
Check back to learn more about these caterpillars, and the commitment it takes to raise a herd of "cats".
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