How long does a tomato worm spend in the cocoon before becoming something awesome?

When posting on the Q of a mod in General one must have a real answer or it gets modded.

What I really want to say is that this is a cute Q, @Dog.

(Or I could put the question in social)
:)

The pupation period can vary tremendously, from 71–145 days. It depends, among other things, on the length of day to which the caterpillar was exposed before pupation (see incredibly dry explanation here )

By the way, they naturally pupate underground, and are kept from drying out by being surrounded by all that moist soil. Keeping it over the winter months in a cage open to the air in a house with heat could lead to jerky instead of a moth. It needs to be in a closed container with no vegetation.

I just discovered that the word “pupation” kind of makes my stomach wretch.

It’s that awful “pyoop-” sound isn’t it? Maybe that’s why you don’t hear the word “pupil” much anymore; “student” has a much nicer sound.

@thorninmud I think so. The whole word sounds icky, though. “Pupil” doesn’t seem nearly as offensive as “pupation.” Yuck.

Getting waaaay off-track here, but it appears that “pupa” is etymologically related to “pupil” (the “eye” meaning, not the “student” meaning). Both come from Latin “pupilla”, meaning “little girl doll”. In the case of the pupa, it’s because the insect is a passive little bundle at this stage. In the case of the eye, it’s because one sees one’s own little tiny reflection, like a little doll staring at you, in the pupil of another’s eye.

“pupal stage lasts approximately 18 days under perfect conditions”, so I’ve just read! :-/

David!! Lol….. I’m trying not to show my softer side….. AWWWWWWWWWW :-)

I may have the wrong worm!! SORRY David :-/

@Scooby Ha ha ha!

@thorninmud That is fascinating!!! Okay- I must fix Davids habitat now! He is outside, in the shade of the patio, but not covered in soil which I will put a bit in his container. :)

I love all this information! I am going to read it to our girls when they get home!

This is some potentially useful info from Jill’s link:

“Another important natural enemy is the wasp. This common wasp kills and feeds upon a large proportion of the larvae, and will also attack cabbage looper and other garden caterpillars.”

Oh, no! Now I’m worried about David!

What did the moth say when he left the building?? ( Just pretend )

I’m-off :-/

I didn’t realize they were a Sphinx moth! They are so cool – the insect version of a hummingbird!

Oh he is going to be BEAUTIFUL!

This is so exciting!

Birth announcements are a must! Or whatever it is if not an actual birth…

These are one of my favorite bugs. :)

We’ve raised sphynx moths before. I was pretty bummed not to find any caterpillars on my tomatoes this year!

If you live someplace where it is now fall, your moth won’t come out until spring. To keep him/her from being confused, make sure the cocoon is in a container of loose dirt and keep it someplace like the garage until spring. You don’t want it emerging when it is too cold to survive or find a nectar source, unless you want to keep it inside and give it fresh flowers over the course of its two week life span. When the weather starts to warm up, you’ll want to make sure to set up a place where the moth will be able to properly expand and dry its wings. It will need to be able to climb up and hang on the sides of its container once it comes out of the cocoon, so a mesh butterfly house would work well.

If it survived to make a cocoon it probably wasn’t parasitized by wasps. They tend to come out and pupate and kill the caterpillar before it makes a cocoon.

This video shows a sphinx moth coming out of the cocoon. See how it looks like it has very tiny wings and a fat body? The moth will pump fluid from its body to the wings until they are big and lovely.

This is the first sphinx moth we raised. When the wings are flat, you can’t see those orange marks on its abdomen.

I live in southern California and I now have covered David loosely in dirt. I am not sure when he will decide to come out so he is on the back patio out of sunlight. I will have to make him a mesh house since he is in a large gallon glass jar with mesh lid. I will go find some sticks for him to climb up when he decides to show.

It is funny- he has that Gonzo nose on his cocoon! It is so funny!