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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 6, 2012 6:28:30 GMT -8
Hmm... It seems like I have started something here. lol When I found this guy, the first thing that popped into my mind was a very stupid YouTube video about caterpillar "mutations". That is why the whole "monster" thing popped into my head. Feel free to keep posting the "monsters" you find around. This has become a rather enjoyable thread to watch.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 5, 2012 18:21:42 GMT -8
And just because I liked the way it turned out, here is the head from the photo above before resizing. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 5, 2012 18:20:36 GMT -8
I have been seeing these off and on since I started last year, but none of them had mandibles like this and they were all quite a bit smaller. It wouldn't hold still for measurment, but it is somewhere around 100mm long. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 3, 2012 23:56:15 GMT -8
When I was at Home Depot yesterday, I saw that they had started carrying mercury vapor bulbs again but they still don't have the fixtures for them. Is the wiring as simple as attaching a cord with the plug to the proper ballast and hooking the ballast to a mogul base?
If it is that simple and I can find a ballast, I might upgrade from my expensive self ballasted bulbs that I keep breaking. Regular mv bulbs cost about half of what I have been spending for self ballasted mv and someone here said that they emit more uv than self ballasted.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 2, 2012 22:14:47 GMT -8
Here is the actual fixture I purchased and the telescope mount that is holding it. Please ignore my hand. I had to block out the bulb from the shot so the camera would pick up the setup. After this purchase, I may be living off of cans of spaghetti and meatballs for a while. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 2, 2012 22:09:36 GMT -8
I was putting together a second light sheet to collect on another portion of my property today. I thought I had it stabilized, but a little storm blew through and the wind toppled the sheet onto the bulb stand which in turn hit the ground. The bulb itself didn't break, but everything inside it got bent and broken. I remembered reading on here that some had tried metal halide and saw no significant difference in what came to the sheet, so in a fit of frustration, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 100watt MH area light (basically, a street lamp head). I was worried that 100watts wouldn't be enough, but when I got it wired up I discovered that it is actually much brighter than my mv bulb. After the rain finally stopped and I was able to try it out, I got a tulip tree moth, an interesting tiger beetle, and a moderately interesting cicada. I also was able to see a sphingidae moth on the sheet from my kitchen window a moment ago. Not bad for a rainy night with a full moon coming out as soon as the rain stopped. At the other sheet I found nothing so far. I discovered that the tripod and mount from an old broken telescope works quite well as a stand for the light. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 30, 2012 6:36:05 GMT -8
When I woke up to go to work this morning, I found that it had emerged sometime in the night. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 30, 2012 6:34:42 GMT -8
And here it is after a couple of days. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 30, 2012 6:33:17 GMT -8
Thank you both for the assistance. Since I posted the original image, the caterpillar has pupated and it emerged last night. Here is the fresh pupa showing some very vibrant colors. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 26, 2012 5:45:35 GMT -8
I am still trying to get the hang of callosamia species. From what I can see, Promethea has diminished white spots on the forewings and prominent white spots on the hindwings. Angulifera has prominent white spots on both fore and hindwings. Securifera has prominent spots on the forewings and diminished spots on the hindwings. These spots are more yellow in color than the other two species. Also, the overall color is lighter. Am I wrong in any of this? Also, did I actually catch a securifera this time, or am I mistaken again and have yet another angulifera? I only kept this one for id purposes and the hope of getting a few eggs. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 24, 2012 2:03:00 GMT -8
Thanks for the assist! I followed the lead over to bugguide and that seems to be the closest match. I love collecting tiger moths, but their variability really does make it difficult to narrow it down sometimes (not to mention the fact that many cannot be fully identified without dissection).
There are a lot of eggs in the container so just out of curiosity, I am going to try to raise some of them. If I succeed, I can see the level of variability in this particular species for myself.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 24, 2012 0:34:50 GMT -8
I know with D. tityus females are a lot more readily found than males. Is the opposite true with Saturniidae moths? Last night I saw two male imperialis and one male regalis. Tonight I saw three male imperialis, one male regalis, and one male Io. Is this normal or am I experiencing a bit of an odd fluke? I came back from my sheet empty handed because I don't need any of the males that I saw tonight. I am searching for females of all of these though. I could use another male Io, but the one I saw tonight was way too worn to collect. I have yet to see a female Io.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 24, 2012 0:15:04 GMT -8
Thank you all for the kind comments. I really should have taken the time to write out an outline like I do when I preach. My first take, I rambled on for over 21 minutes not including the intro and conclusion. I still rambled on horribly in the final take, but it was short enough to use and I was tired of reshooting it over and over.
The bit with the cat was supposed to be cut out, but I forgot to cut it and it made it into the finished video. Maybe one day, if I come up with another subject to make a video on, I will introduce my two cats so you can see the little terrors that try to destroy all my projects.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 23, 2012 8:30:48 GMT -8
I am sure I have seen this before on bugguide or moth photographers group, but I have spend several hours searching both sites and have came up empty. Any takers? Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Jul 21, 2012 7:53:34 GMT -8
Thanks so much for the help here. I seem to keep finding moths that are too tattered and worn to be sure of the id. I would love to find one that we could positively id as intermedia. I did see a near perfect pandorus at the gas station last night, but my idiot self left my net (that I promised myself that I would never leave home without again) in my car. When I tried to pick it up without damaging it, it flew away. The green on that moth was astonishing!
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