Green Hawk Moth (Part 2)

Description:

Sphingidae; Macroglossinae; Macroglossini; Pergesa; Pergesa Acteus (Cramer, 1779). This is the continuation of my spotting "Green Hawk Moth (Part 1)". Pic # 7 Shows the stage where the 5th. Instar has now stopped eating and is ready to enshroud itself in a kind of tomb made of silk mesh and leaves. I can only surmise that in its wild state, it would be using whatever other materials it could find to entomb itself for its pupation. Pic # 8 The larva is now covering itself with a "shroud", presumably creating a place to hide from predators during the next stage - pupation. Pic #9 Shows two of the larvae now completely pupated ( the exuviae from their final moult, inside the shroud, can be seen beside them). I really needed to know what was going on inside the shroud, in order to complete the story. So I gently cut open two of them and brought out the two pupae and exuviae, took the picture and then tucked them carefully back inside. For Pic # 10 , I went through the same proceedure to extricate all the pupae (only three are shown above) so that I could place them into a home made cage. The pupae seen in this picture are now "stiffened up" and all I that remains for me to do is wait and observe. Pic # 11 Shows the first moth to eclose and climb up onto the mesh of the cage where it hung for a few hours, inflating and drying its wings. Pic # 12 Shows one of the moths being released into our farm, far from grass verges and grass cutters.

Habitat:

The Pergesa acteus egg shown in my first picture was collected from the roadside grass verge outside of our front wall. It was on the underside of a leaf of Corazon de Maria (Caladium bicolor). You can see the egg and the early stages of development in my spotting "Green Hawk Moth (Part 1)". https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14...

Notes:

I am very interested in butterflies and moths and never cease to wonder at the amazing, almost magical transformations they go through in their development. The grass verge in front of the houses here had always been considered (in the past) to be the responsibility of the the house owners. Some kept it tidy and others, not so much. So the local government, a few years back, stepped in and sent out teams of workers with petrol-engine brush cutters. They do a good job of keeping the grass short and reducing the weeds, but they cut absolutely everything, including many Corazon de Maria, the main local host plant for many species of Hawk Moths. I decided to try and help to bolster and maintain the local population of these moths by having a go at rearing them in captivity and releasing them into the wild. The purpose of this spotting is to outline, in general terms, how these moths develop. I cant fit a sufficient number of photos into one spotting. So, I have taken the liberty of dividing it into two parts.