The Very Hungry Caterpillars

heVery Hungry Caterpillars Summer to me means hot weather, watermelon, and the birth of new life! My chionarctia niveamoth recently gifted me with over 300 eggs! At first, the eggs were abeautiful pale green. Then after about a week, they turned transparentand you could see the dark caterpillars inside. Later that day, theyhatched and immediately started to snack on dandelion leaves. They wereonly about one-fourth of a centimeter in size, so I could barely seethem. I had to use a macro lens to capture these photos. I kept ten ofthe caterpillars and released the rest into the wild. Since hatching,they have molted three times! Each time a caterpillar molts, it discardsits previous skin and emerges as a bigger caterpillar. Many times aftermolting, the caterpillar adorns new colors and physical features. The chionarctia nivea caterpillar species is related to America's "wooly bear" Isabella Tiger Moth species. If you grew up in the United States, you've likely seen the wooly bearcaterpillar. It's red, black, and very fluffy! It's actually the firstcaterpillar I ever raised into a moth! Similar to the wooly bear, the chionarctia nivea caterpillar will grow up to be very fluffy. Both of these fluffy caterpillars are unique because they belong to the moth subfamily Arctiinaewhich hibernates as caterpillars and not as cocoons! Most species ofmoth will spend all of summer and fall growing into a full-growncaterpillar, pupate in winter, the hatch from their cocoon in spring.These species of caterpillars will do some of their growing in summerand fall, then in winter they stop their hearts and allow themselves tofreeze. In spring they will thaw out and come back alive! They will thenfinish their growing process and then form their cocoon in earlysummer. I actually had the adult version of the chionarctia nivea caterpillar back in May 2022. The full-grown caterpillar is a light brown andorange color and is very fuzzy. Can you tell that the wooly bearcaterpillar and the chionarctia nivea caterpillar are related? It's especially interesting that they're related since the wooly bearspecies is only present in America and the chionarctia nivea species is only present in Japan and parts of Korea. If you ever spot a caterpillar, moth, or butterfly, try to take a picture!I'd love to see them and give you a few fun facts about the species if Ican identify them. If you send me an email, I should get back to youwithin the hour! ashfagan99@gmail.com