Nikon 7900 pocket camera-hand held images. This species is also called a “Peacock Moth”. They have a wingspan 2-3” (5-8cm). Adults fly from early May to September. They are found throughout all of Eastern North America, west to Arizona, and south into Central America Part one showed the host plants (which I have not been able to identify), the eggs and the caterpillars thru all 5 instars. Today’s post (part 2) shows the sequence (called eclosure)of the moths as they emerged from their flimsy loose cocoons. I started with 15 eggs. They all hatched but one caterpillar died after a week or so. The other 14 progressed to the pupate stage and as of today, 13 of them have emerged (7 males - 6 females). Out of all that emerged, I never managed to see any of them actually work free of the cocoon, lol. I noticed the movements as they crawled up some supports to allow their wings to hang down. This is essential. It helps with their ability to pump blood thru the wing veins. This blood does not stay in the wings; it merely expands the veins as it passes thru them before it returns to the moth’s body. By hanging, they also get some assistance from gravity to help in this process. I did not miss much of this process though. The images in this part may not really be the same insect. I used the better shots from several different days to illustrate the event. The final result is still factual info. From emergence to fully expanded wings took about 30 minutes. At that point, they would raise the wings off their bodies and hold them straight out to the sides. They would then spend an hour or more just letting the wings dry. After watching moth wings drying for over an hour, I finally got impatient and used a small twig to gentle lift the fore wings so the hind wings (with their dramatic eye spots)could be seen clearly. In nature the moth only does this when it is startled and attempts to scare the hunter. I also noticed that the moths kept their heads tucked down with their chins on their chests and their antenna against the sides of their head. BTW – among other things, the female has skinny antenna and the male has feathery ones). I got several good shots of the wings held out and opened, and then I left them alone for a while. Eventually I got impatient again and poked the body of one. This action led to an equal and opposite reaction, lol. When I did this, they reacted by lifting their heads, showing their antenna, fluttering their wings, and expelling a long stream of liquid from their rear ends, lol. They would have done this on their own eventually. It allows them to get rid of the leftover material from the transformation process. They need to loose the weight of this before they can fly. BTW – the caterpillars also expelled all the contents of their guts just before they formed their cocoons. This prevents too much moisture content in the pupa). The males fly as soon as they can but the females may stay where they are. They attract males by emitting pheromones which the male can “smell” using the elaborately feathered antenna they are equipped with. Both sexes are on a tight time table. They only live a week or two and in that time they must find mates and breed. Their entire purpose is reproductive. They don’t even eat. Depending on the particular size of the moth, female Io moths emerge from the cocoon with approximately 100 - 200 eggs ready for fertilization. Eggs are generally laid in groups of about 20 on host plants, including birches, clover, corn, elms, maples, oaks, willows, roses, cotton, hibiscus, azaleas, palms, and even some grasses. There may be up to four generations in the far south, but usually just one in the north. In the south, late season caterpillars will over winter as pupa in their cocoons and emerge early the next spring. Tomorrow I will show you a male and a female with their wing eye spots exposed. They are very pretty, lol. Thanks to those who take the time to comment. Lee