Entomology - green caterpillar to moth

A while ago I put a few green caterpillars into a jar to watch how they went about changing into a moth.

I've always thought the green caterpillars that ate my aquaponics garden were from the white cabbage moth. The ones that fly around during the day.

But last night in the hours just before dawn, the jar on my desk suddenly erupted into life and out flew this.

In this part of the world, this is one of those crazy moths that love flying around lights at night.

I don't know how they get anything done.






It seems they do this because they normally navigate by the moon. When using the moon for navigation, you can fly in a straight line, or very close to a straight line, by just keeping the thing up there and a little to the left or whatever. If it's up there and a little to the left, and you veer off a bit to the right, it becomes up there and a little more to the left. So you turn left a bit.

The moon is so far away, that even though it's moving as far as a moth is concerned, it's a pretty stationary object in the sky. Perfect to act as a lighthouse.

But when you fly past an artificial light thinking it's the moon, you see it change it's position, so you turn a bit, but it's still changing position, so you turn a bit more. You end up flying around and around until you vomit or die.

If your flight plan happens to be to fly almost exactly at the moon, and your moon is a candle, you don't even get to the throwing up stage. You just die.

So I had a look in the jar and saw this.

I cant tell if this photo of the moth's old home is interesting or not.

I'm guessing it's a little bit interesting.

I should really pt the camera on the one on the left and watch it emerge, but instead in the interests of bread, I just put the jar outside.











120 Things in 20 years - Entomology - green caterpillar to night time moth. Who knew.

Photography - Time lapse caterpillars

My old phone's camera didn't quite behave as it should have.

Each time it went on to the charge cycle it would shut down the camera.

I did manage to get some photos, although I haven't yet explored ways to knit the individual photo's into a video stream.


I had plans of rigging the phone to the back of the boat for my epic Murray River adventure, and adding as large a memory card as I could.

That way I hoped to be able to catch the entire journey, how ever long it might turn out to be.



I think I'll still want to do something along those lines, but now I might have to buy a purpose built device to achieve the same thing.

It's a shame my little test run didn't work, because in the end the caterpillars started to do the transition thing.

It's not very clear because they moved too close to the lens, but they have started to lay down silk to make somewhere to live while they become whatever it is they are going to become.



















120 Things in 20 years - Making the sacrifice of wearing dirty clothes, so that the reader might enjoy failed, but shake free, caterpillar time lapse photography, foolishly set up on top of the washing machine.

Aquaponics - Caterpillar

I enjoy sharing my produce with caterpillars as much as the next guy.

But these guys don't get the whole "wait until you've finished one bit before taking a bite from the next bit" thing.

Whoever wrote that book about the caterpillar munching it's way merrily through a stack of different pages full of valuable produce definitely wasn't hungry at the time. If they were, there would have been a very different ending involving being eaten by a fish.

Who would do this to a green tomato, and then move on to another .

I understand that you have to eat it before the next guy does, but all that waste! The way to take over the world is to get together with all the other bugs, and wait until the fruit is ripe like the humans do.

And then waste the food by tipping it into the ocean or setting fire to it so the market is protected.

Bugs know nothing of free market economics.



120 things in 20 years often aquaponics, sometimes pointless, but few would argue against my claim to it's number one ranking in the world of caterpillar politics and economics.

Aquaponics - Sacrificial plants

In my aquaponics system, I grow a sacrificial plant, who's only purpose in my garden is as a caterpillar attractor.

As generous as that might seem, it might be worth noting that the fish like to eat them, and as long as they stay on my caterpillar attractor they are easy to find. 

The plant is called Senposai, or at least it is in my garden store, and claims to be a Japanese green.

I have no idea if it tastes good, because before I get to eat any of it, everything else does.

So I grow it now to keep everything else from eating everything else.

It works a treat as a sacrificial plant.

It looks like this.

It seems those big, round, green leaves are irresistible to creatures that like to place caterpillars into gardens.

Since I've been growing it I've never had a caterpillar on anything else.

Ever.

I haven't had a lot of caterpillars, but I've had enough to conclude that they love this stuff.

Another advantage, is that the fish seem to love it as well. When I see a leaf with caterpillar holes in it I just rip it off and throw it into the fishtank. The fish go crazy for the caterpillars, then peck away at the leaf until its just a stem.

The stem even floats, making it convenient to lift out and drop into the compost bucket.

I love the stuff and will always grow it.

I just don't think I'll ever get to eat it.




not just Aquaponics - Sacrificial plants - 120 things in 20 years