Overwintering cocoon help!! Please!

[whitewolf]

So probably about 2 or 3 months ago I found a small brown caterpillar at work, it made a cocoon in some leaves I gave it just a few hours after finding it. Despite my best attempts at identification, I failed to find it and stupidly brought it inside my heated home not realizing it needed to drop in temperature (noob mistake for a noob) anyway, I'm wondering if it's too late to refrigerate or move the little guy outside I would be ridiculously sad if my ignorance took the life of this little guy..

If this helps I live in Southern West Utah right about on the border of Arizona and Nevada, our temperatures have been surprisingly warm so far this January so I'm unsure about moving him outside, but if I refrigerate him for a couple months, it'll be incredibly hot outside by the time I move him out to hatch...

Is it too late to save my little friend?
I would really appreciate any help I can get

[whitewolf]

Bump

[Paul K]

Jan 17, 2018 14:48:04 GMT -8 whitewolf said:

So probably about 2 or 3 months ago I found a small brown caterpillar at work, it made a cocoon in some leaves I gave it just a few hours after finding it. Despite my best attempts at identification, I failed to find it and stupidly brought it inside my heated home not realizing it needed to drop in temperature (noob mistake for a noob) anyway, I'm wondering if it's too late to refrigerate or move the little guy outside I would be ridiculously sad if my ignorance took the life of this little guy..

If this helps I live in Southern West Utah right about on the border of Arizona and Nevada, our temperatures have been surprisingly warm so far this January so I'm unsure about moving him outside, but if I refrigerate him for a couple months, it'll be incredibly hot outside by the time I move him out to hatch...

Is it too late to save my little friend?
I would really appreciate any help I can get

I am not a big specialist with rearing but you could definitely refrigerate your pupae/cocoon for couple of weeks. Store it in your vagetable fruit compartment.
When you take it out from the fridge warmer temperature should trigger emergence. If this is not gonna happen in a month or so open gently the cocoon and check if pupae is still alive. To do that try to move abdomen segments or squeeze very gently-pupae should move the abdomen if alive.
Do not freeze your pupae as it will kill it instantly.

Good luck
Paul

[leptraps]

Once you place them in a refrigerator you "MUST" keep them moist. All refridgeraters are frost free. The cold air originates from the freezer. That air is bone dry.

When I store my pupae in the refrigerator, I spray my pupae with water almost every day. Sometimes two or three times. I set the pupae on a thick layer of paper towels. Keep the towels moist as well. Use bottled water. Tap water has chemicals that could kill the pupae over time.

I have a separate refrigerator just for my Lepidoptera. It is in my "BUG" room. The name "Bug" room came from my sons when they were teenagers. I keep lots of Lep related stuff. Ziploc bags of bait for my bait traps, drinks while I work in my room, snacks and a couple of bucks just encase.

A separate refridgerater is one of the reasons I have been married to the same woman for 52 years.

I am sure many of you have tried to use the house hold refrigerator. Does not make Momma happy when she find dead bugs and stuff in the fridge with the lettuce or cheese cake. Even if they are dead, the greif could and can be never ending....Oh, and the bugs might spoil the taste of the Tufo. (In my opinion it would improve the taste of that S--t....)

[Deleted]

I have catocala right next to the pizza rolls.

[jwa121]

Hi whitewolf,

If we assume that the pupa inside the cocoon is still alive, then I would recommend putting your cocoon in a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting, screw-on lid. Put a few drops of water on a piece of paper towel and put that in the jar just behind the lid, to provide the pupa with some necessary humidity. Screw the lid on tight and put the jar in the bottom of your kitchen fridge. I would recommend refrigerating the pupa for a minimum of six weeks (to break diapause).

John 

[whitewolf]

Thank you all very much! Assuming the little guy is still alive I'm going to put him in an airtight container with moist paper towels in the vegetable compartment in my fridge for about 6 weeks, when I take him out should I leave him in my house for a day or two before bringing him outdoors?

I'll probably refresh the moist paper towels every couple days to make sure it stays humid in the jar he's in.

Anything else I should do or know about?

Thanks again for the responses, I'm very happy to know that I can still save him

[jwa121]

Well, if you plan to eventually put the chilled cocoon outdoors, there are some things to consider.

You'll want to put the cocoon somewhere where it won't be spotted by a predator (a bird, for example), and where it will be protected from the direct rays of the sun, to avoid overheating. And the cocoon needs to be attached to something so that the emerging moth can successfully pull out and away from the cocoon and have something to cling to, and hang from, so that its wings can properly expand.

To improve the odds of having the moth successfully eclose, you may wish to let it do so indoors.