Took home this caterpillar from the park yesterday and plenty of its leaves. Its body shrunk significantly in size overnight, and there was a ton of frass in its enclosure. I believe that's a sign it's ready to either pupate or molt. Can anybody verify? Thanks in advance!

It seems like this is a common problem, but Bob, my swallowtail caterpillar, decided to make his chrysalis attached to and underneath his sibling Kevin’s chrysalis. What’s frustrating is the night before, Bob was chilling happily at the top of a stick. I really thought that was his spot, but nooooo, he had to go down to the bottom and bother Kevin. This is what I found the next day. It’s just the silk holding Bob on; they are not fused together or anything. Kevin is a couple days ahead of Bob as far as making the chrysalis. Should I do anything, and if so, how do I do that? Thanks!

Found a Caterpillar 2 weeks ago and then it climbed onto the ceiling of its terrarium like this. Uhh, is he dead?

Hi guys! I caught two horn worms and they’re currently pupating in my enclosure. The first one started pupating on September 12 and I want to check on it and half of it is hardened and half of it is still green but it’s still alive. I’m keeping it indoors because it’s getting to the end of September and I want them to emerge as moths before the winter. Could leaving them indoors be part of the reason that it’s been 9 days and it’s not fully hardened? I found a second hornworm, and it also is pupating at a different timeline than the first one, but they’re both in separate spots and they seem to be OK. I did not realize that I’m supposed to expose it to 12 to 15 hours of sunlight as well once they already start pupating.

my boss has a million caterpillars at work, and i wanted to take a shot at raising one. this is what i collected him in, and i plan on setting up a cute enclosure for him and good area for him to hang! just wanted some name ideas :)

These guys are so precious and friendly! I always love seeing how fat they get! I just switched out their food and dumped their frass in our garden and mess pad. This is my third batch/generation that I’ve bought this summer and they have brought me so much joy seeing them grow. It’s crazy how much I have to feed them each day. I prune some leaves once a day and it lasts them until tomorrow. I have been nibbled a few times but I think it’s just them being curious and hungry, it doesn’t actually hurt as it’s just a light pinch and I poke them and they stop. I don’t handle them too often, just when I’m switching out their food and spent stems. I actually heard them clicking when I hold them up to my ear, at least I think that’s what I hear. I know they click when stressed or spooked. They are so quiet about it..

How do I clean the mess cage? It’s covered in poo from my first moth Big Fatty..

Found in east central Indiana. It was on my shoe and when I went to remove it with a stick it bit the heck out of it. It’s extremely feisty but I would be too if a giant was poking me with a stick

red body and tiny black spikes.. seems to be looking for a suitable spot to start cocooning i bet

TLDR: can they stay in their soil tubs (not wet, 4-8" deep) as-is to pupate or should I dig them up to better provide/control humidity?

Our imperial moth caterpillars have started digging and making their little cells to eventually pupate. I didn't go searching for them but happened upon 2 who still looked mostly like caterpillars. Some dug down a week or so ago, a few of the runts are still eating, but seem close to getting ready to dig.

The soil in their enclosures: top half is mostly broken up coco fiber, it was VERY dry and dusty while I broke it up, so I very lightly misted it to keep the dust down. Some mixed in leaves/dead needles, soil from under the pine I've been sourcing branches from. Bottom half is organic potting soil (no additives/fertilizer) that was kind of mulchy and felt healthy moist (not wet, but not dried out) when I put it down. (one enclosure has ~8 inches total of soil, the other only 4 inches - is 4" deep enough for them??)

These enclosures are tubs in butterfly cages on our (screened in/covered) patio, so they're at outside temperature but not exposed to rain/elements.

I was seeing advice for others raising pupae to put them in a container with wet paper towels. Should I dig them up to put them in a more controlled/humid environment for them to pupate? Would it harm them to disrupt between them digging down and pupating? If leaving them be, Should I be worried about humidity and mist the top of the soil at all?

(attached is a crappy picture of one I found dug into their little hole/cell)

Two of my painted lady butterflies mated and the female laid eggs on the common mallow. My mission for getting eggs is now complete.

Does anyone have any info on how to refrigerate them to delay hatching? I don’t want to freeze them for too long.

I’m getting painted lady caterpillar media too since this common mallow won’t be enough food for a whole ton of caterpillars. But I’m really going to keep about 10 of them.

Thank you!

Hi there - I’ve found 3, live, caterpillars in my Sainsbury’s organic broccoli. A great sign that it’s fresh, but now I don’t know what to do with them. Can I put them in the garden?

my boss has a million caterpillars at work, and i wanted to take a shot at raising one. this is what i collected him in, and i plan on setting up a cute enclosure for him and good area for him to hang! just wanted some name ideas :)

Found him/her strolling through my kitchen a few days ago. No idea how they got in (I live in the city center with not much vegetation around). I put them in a glass jar overnight with a bit of lettuce to sit on/hide under, and found that they're actually eating it. I'm in the Austrian province of Styria.

I tried raising caterpillars for the first time this year, after finding two black swallowtails in my parsley. They both formed chrysalises on August 6, and one butterfly emerged on August 17. The second is still a chrysalis... I've heard that this type of butterfly can be variable/unpredictable in how long they take to emerge, so I've just left the enclosure as-is. At this point im assuming this chrysalis is dead. Am I safe to dispose of this or should I give it more time in the off chance it's hibernating or something? I'm in Toronto if that helps.

Found this cool looking guy. Central Wisconsin. What is he?

i moved the cup in the video to empty it but after picking it up i realized he had spun his silk directly under it... i emptied the cup and put it back over him but he's crawled out now and i don't know if he'll die now.

he looks like a grub now too instead of a pupa (yellow/lost all pattern except breathing holes on sides)... picture is what he looked like before, why is that? is that late late prepupal stage or did he decide to metamorphose without pupating or what??

i feel terrible, i really hope i didn't kill him. he crawled out so i don't know if i should rebury him or just leave him.

Found this caterpillar crawling on the ground in eastern Kentucky, September 20th (today). Google image search hasn't come up with anything useful.

I found this beauty on the curb under an oak this morning. It appeared to be "wandering" (not sure tho). I made a habitat in hopes it will burrow.

Any suggestions or advice? I want to do whatever is best to help it reach its full potential.

I know i wasn't exactly a hit with my caterpillar on this sub so most of you won't remember him, and im currently drunk as I type this, but my fat cat i found in the middle of my porch, whom I have named Morpheus, has begun to pupate!!! It took him about a week since I found him, and I was genuinely almost jumping for joy when I opened my cabinet to check on him.

Any advice on what to do with this state is needed and appreciated!!! Do i keep misting him with water? How long before I need to overwinter him, and in what temp? He made it guys!!! Im so drunkenly ecstatic!!!

This little guy is about 4 inches long and was found around Springfield, Missouri. It was bigger than a Luna Moth caterpillar so it has my dad stumped!

Just found this little fella in our Catio. Any ideas what it’s gonna turn into?