The Baron

I have been traveling on and off for the past 3 weeks and I was afraid I will miss the opportunity to observe the caterpillar pupate and eclose. Fortunately, the Baron caterpillar pupated and eclosed when I was home.

I came home on Jan 27th and the caterpillar pupated on Jan 28th ! The pupa is green in colour, angular and looks like the head of a rodent. If you flip the photo vertically (the middle photo), you will see the semblance ! - the pointed ears, the eyes, nose ! Isn't it amazing ?

This morning (Feb 7th), the pupa became transparent and by 8pm, the patterns on upperside of the forewings can be clearly seen in the rightmost photo above. This means the butterfly will emerge tomorrow morning (10 days in pupa stage)! I am going to try to wake up at 5am tomorrow to observe the eclosion. Wish me luck !

The other Baron caterpillar has grown quite a bit. This is how the caterpillar looks like on Jan 30th. It is 15mm long and in its 3rd instar.

Today, Feb 6th, it is in its 4th instar and is 30mm long.