Io Moth life cycle part 1 by Leeco

Photography • Insects • posted on Aug 04, 2008

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Description

Nikon 7900 pocket camera - hand held images. I do not have any info about yesterdays critter other than an ID. It is the nymph of a Green Lacewing - (Chrysopidae). It was a fun week for me and hopefully some of you had fun also. Todays posting is part 1 of 3 in a series that illustrates the life cycle of an Automeris Io Moth. I found some eggs at the end of last May and brought them inside. I kept them in a 5 gallon empty fish tank and waited to see what happened. It took about 10 days before they hatched, another 4 weeks of watching and feeding the caterpillars and then 4 weeks of waiting for them to emerge from their cocoons. I started with 15 eggs and 14 of them went thru all 5 instars and then pupated. The 15th one hatched but only lived about 2 weeks. It barely grew before it finally quit eating and died. As of today, 12 of them have emerged - 7 males and 5 females. They started emerging last weekend at the rate of about 1 or 2 a day. It has been 2 days since the last one emerged. All were released after they had fully expanded and dried their wings. It was a neat experience but I will go into that a bit more with the next 2 postings. BTW - I will get my larger (12"x16" and 16"x 20")exhibition photos back from the printers this week. I will put together and soon post some collages showing the images I intend to exhibit. I am also putting together a calendar that I will include with the exhibit. I hope to sale them thru the Arts Council's (the sponsor of the exhibition) gift shop. I am inquiring thru RR staff what RR policies are regarding the inclusion (in my posted image comment areas and on my RR homepage) of promotional info concerning the sale of these calendars and single image prints. Thanks to those who take the time to comment. Lee

Comments (20)

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flora-crassella

1:01AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

...eine wundervolle Studie! Die Bilder sind hervorragend!!!!!!

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mbz2662

1:02AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Amazing collage! You invested quited a bit of time here, and it shows with the superb images you always produce...Thanks for sharing :0)

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artaddict2

1:32AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

What an amazing collage, superb shots and information of this cycle of life study. So much detail to each and every shot. A joy to view. Thanks Lee!

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ledwolorz

1:56AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Wonderful collage and super information.Amazing work.

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JeffG7BRJ

2:23AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

I like all the images Lee, but my favourite has to be day 16, the head on shot, that tiny orange head looking straight at you. You provided fantastic information as well, that is something I like very much, a good narrative. Excellent collage, look forward to the next in the series. Bravo!!!!!

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durleybeachbum

2:25AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

How exciting!! A marvellous set of pics to start with. Lacewing, eh! that figures, my little yellow thing is probably one of those then, so I can start to ID it properly. Thankyou!

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Littlejock

5:16AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Fantastic work and lection of nature. Excellent work and colours

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GBCalls

5:39AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Interesting process you have captured. Excellent results, and glad you enjoy teaching us what you have seen. Well done Lee!

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ysvry

8:23AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

fantastic serie, nice to see the life cycle of an Automeris Io Moth, and very educatif.

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mairekas

9:50AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Fantastic collage!!! Thanks for sharing!

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StandsInAwe

9:56AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Wonderful colors... very nice.

MrsLubner

10:17AM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Textbook clean and totally educational. What a fabulous collage of life. Stellar clarity and without words it still tells the tale very clearly.

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Richardphotos

2:56PM | Mon, 04 August 2008

how did you know in advance that the eggs would be laid on this particular plant leafs?educated guess?amazing series and macros

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Genma

6:13PM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Wow Lee, this has been proving to be a fascinating couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to see the rest of this series. Great idea, and great photos as always.

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magg_ca

7:14PM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Excelent

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bpclarke

7:44PM | Mon, 04 August 2008

Wow! A great collage and set of captures. Splendid shots. Bunny

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DreamersWish

12:48AM | Tue, 05 August 2008

I have always wanted to see what really happens and where it all begins. Thank you so much for posting these marvelous series of images! They are crisp,clear,and just beautiful to marvel at! Well done!

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