Identify this insect pupa?
May 9, 2021 6:07 AM Subscribe
Nobody on iNaturalist has identified this 1-1/4", pearl-gray pupa found in Durham County, NC. Can you help? I want to make sure it has food and appropriate moisture when it emerges. Also I'm curious.
The larva came from woods' edge, close to my home, in a pile of dead leaves next to a fallen old tree. Location was 20-40' from the edge of the woods, close to a shady grassy location.
It was a fairly large caterpillar (2" long maybe? Maybe more?). I didn't get a chance to measure before it pupated. The larva was NOT curled -- most beetle larva I've seen are more curled; this caterpillar looked like it could actually crawl normally and resembled a butterfly or moth caterpillar.
The caterpillar had used silk to bind some leaves very loosely around itself -- I think I caught it right as it was starting to make its case.
The pupa case is about 1-1/4" long and gray. I believe it's alive -- I think I remember it moving before I took the photos.
Currently it's in a not-too-wet dirt-floored glass tank, covered, with a bunch of well-fed crickets and some of its favorite brown dried leaves.
Also - if there's a way to highlight a request for an ID on iNaturalist, I'm interested in that too. I posted it with only one photo originally, which may not have been enough for a good ID then, and now that I've added more photos it might not be at the top of the queue for any likely entomologists.
I know I could search for people with a lot of similar insect IDs, and send them a direct message. However, I think pupae are difficult to ID, and I'm not even sure if this is a moth or something I haven't imagined yet.
Thank you!
The larva came from woods' edge, close to my home, in a pile of dead leaves next to a fallen old tree. Location was 20-40' from the edge of the woods, close to a shady grassy location.
It was a fairly large caterpillar (2" long maybe? Maybe more?). I didn't get a chance to measure before it pupated. The larva was NOT curled -- most beetle larva I've seen are more curled; this caterpillar looked like it could actually crawl normally and resembled a butterfly or moth caterpillar.
The caterpillar had used silk to bind some leaves very loosely around itself -- I think I caught it right as it was starting to make its case.
The pupa case is about 1-1/4" long and gray. I believe it's alive -- I think I remember it moving before I took the photos.
Currently it's in a not-too-wet dirt-floored glass tank, covered, with a bunch of well-fed crickets and some of its favorite brown dried leaves.
Also - if there's a way to highlight a request for an ID on iNaturalist, I'm interested in that too. I posted it with only one photo originally, which may not have been enough for a good ID then, and now that I've added more photos it might not be at the top of the queue for any likely entomologists.
I know I could search for people with a lot of similar insect IDs, and send them a direct message. However, I think pupae are difficult to ID, and I'm not even sure if this is a moth or something I haven't imagined yet.
Thank you!
By your description I'm guessing a moth (butterflies iirc usually make their chrysalis naked out in the open, whereas moths do the bundle-up thing), but there are so many moths and they're not as appreciated as butterflies, so can be harder to identify especially at that stage.
I would suggest doing what you can to duplicate where it came from; put it back in/on a pile of leaves in a place with similar lighting/temp/humidity to where you found it. I would remove the crickets; it won't want them and they may nibble it or interfere in some way, or pass on disease. And when it emerges, it's probably going to want nectar and minerals and moisture, but often they don't eat much as adults; their only purpose is to breed and die. So take some pictures and set it free to do it's thing.
Good news is a lot of really pretty moth species do just what you describe, so it might be a Luna moth or something! Good luck!
posted by The otter lady at 9:15 AM on May 9, 2021
I would suggest doing what you can to duplicate where it came from; put it back in/on a pile of leaves in a place with similar lighting/temp/humidity to where you found it. I would remove the crickets; it won't want them and they may nibble it or interfere in some way, or pass on disease. And when it emerges, it's probably going to want nectar and minerals and moisture, but often they don't eat much as adults; their only purpose is to breed and die. So take some pictures and set it free to do it's thing.
Good news is a lot of really pretty moth species do just what you describe, so it might be a Luna moth or something! Good luck!
posted by The otter lady at 9:15 AM on May 9, 2021
I did some poking around looking for greyish pupae in NC. Greenstriped mapleworm seems to be a possibility, especially if you know there were maple trees around, which there usually are. That moth is stunning!
posted by hydropsyche at 2:54 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by hydropsyche at 2:54 PM on May 9, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
Otherwise, IDs in iNat can take a while (years for some in my queue). If you're on Facebook, the Insect Identification group is well-trafficked. You could try posting there with your locality info, and the folks there may be able to help narrow down the taxa. Then you can suggest that in iNat, and the narrower taxa may also help get ID on your original post.
I don't know of a way to "highlight" an iNat observation, other than to tag users that you think may know. But narrowing the taxa will help increase visibility for users that check something like "Noctuidae" moth observations rather than the very broad "Insect" taxa.
[edit: I don't think this a Noctuidae moth. Not even sure it's a moth!]
posted by Drosera at 9:14 AM on May 9, 2021