Munchy Hatched!!!!!

Today has been the most exciting day!!! This morning while doing school I was just sitting with Bobbi when I thought, "When is this pupa going to hatch." The pupa, of course, is Munchy, and he has been this way for 3+ weeks. I was pondering what was wrong when I heard a scratching sound, like paper crunching. I looked over and what did I see but Munchy coming out of his cocoon. I called the kids to come see. He just crawled out and up on the side of the net. He was/is beautiful and HUGE. He is probably 3 inches long or longer. His cocoon was like thin tissue paper where he broke out. I was amazed and excited. I ran to find the camera. What a science class we had. We watched him over the next few minutes while his wings went from tiny to huge. Little by little he pumped them up until they were longer than his body. He is still upstairs in his net and hasn't moved since he came out. I have left the lights on so he will not want to fly just yet. We will let him go tonight.

Munchy's cocoon after hatching

Just hatched. Look how small his wings are. There are six yellow bands/dots on his abdomen. That is how he got his name: Manduca sexta.

Check out how big his wings are just a few minutes later.

What big eyes you have. His eye is the black thing there by his antenna. I don't know what that shiny ball is on his head. If anyone knows, please tell me. Just below that ball is his coiled up proboscis or tongue.

Hand some isn't he?! His wings are ginormous!! (is that a word?)

I had to cut the bug net to get a good picture. I don't really advise getting one of these. They net is too hard to see through. Next time, I will make one myself out of a box and some clear plastic for a window.

This is just before we let him go. Tyler touched him and he spread his wings. Beautiful.

Check out this site for more on raising Manduca: http://insected.arizona.edu/manduca/Rear_reargbox.html

Munchy's cocoon

This is Munchy now. We dug him up and put him in one of those butterfly pop-up houses. He really isn't a butterfly, but I don't think he will mind being in there. We are trying to confuse his days and nights, so he will come out of the cocoon during the day. He is actually a nocturnal creature. A moth to be exact, and a big one. We are putting him in a dark area during the day and in the light at night. It might be too late for this, but oh well, we can try. He should become a moth next Monday or Tuesday. I'll let you know. Isn't it amazing how God made this amazing creature. He is a huge, green, juicy worm one day and this brown cocoon the next. You can see his proboscis. That's the long thing looped on top and what he will use to eat. They feed on nectar just like butterflies. Then you can see his wings folded under that. They are rather large, but he will be a very large moth; the size of a hummingbird. The his abdomen or tail. He can and will wiggle it if you move him or roll him over. If you look really close, you can see little black spots on the side of his abdomen. Those are his spiracles. He uses them for breathing. He doesn't have a nose. I can't wait for him to come out.