genetically modified caterpillars!

daisy dukes


Joined: 06/09/2008
Posts: 3815

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:00

Here is a picture of perhaps the biggest caterpillar i have ever seen in my life!! Although quite beautiful and vivid...it was also quite horrifying, because when i touched it, it did some sort of caterpault into the air, and scared the living shit out of me!!



Please forgive the size of the picture...my pixresizer has gone to sleep...but if you centre the picture...you will get the full effect....and quite spectacular it is too!!



Please post your opinions on the site...



http://rescueuskyrenia.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=create_topic&board_id=14





DD

daisy dukes


Joined: 06/09/2008
Posts: 3815

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:41

Damn...hold on..let me try again...



http://rescueuskyrenia.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=view_topic&topic_id=120



hmmmm...this should be the right link...







DD

LaptaMike


Joined: 07/10/2009
Posts: 1679

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:47

ahh how cute. (Funny 'eye' like patches at back.



As a matter of interest, if I plant a Mulberry tree/bush will it get the caterpillars for silk naturally or would I have to obtain them from somewhere? Would be nice to re-introduce some of the old crafts into the local village.

daisy dukes


Joined: 06/09/2008
Posts: 3815

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:58

I would not in any circumstances invite this little beggar into your home or garden....it will munch a tree like you could eat a mars bar.....i watched it eating a papaya tree....and try to imagine this...a little caterpillar munching very slowly on a leaf....then speed up the actions by about 10,000 perhaps more....and that is how fast it eats things!! Apparently it only lives as a monster tree eating caterpillar for about 48 to 60 hours...then goes into a cocoon to emerge later as a rather pretty butterfly...



Oh yeah, and don't forget, if you touch it....the whole creature lurches itself at you....not sure if it has teeth that will hurt...but watching it jump is enough to scare your cockles!!





DD

Bertie


Joined: 15/04/2008
Posts: 155

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 13:55

Is this the oleandeer hawk moth caterpillar we had a similar caterpillar in the garden. A neighbour had a hawk moth last year and it is really quite spectacular.

michelle3012


Joined: 07/11/2008
Posts: 578

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 15:20

Bertie



Can you contact me by email i have something i need to discuss with you, unrelated to this topic!

Thanks

michellekmb3012@gmail.com

stilluvithere



Joined: 03/12/2008
Posts: 765

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 15:37

http://www.drkrishi.com/metamorphosis, this looks like the same caterpillar

daisy dukes


Joined: 06/09/2008
Posts: 3815

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 19:46

stilluvithere...that was a great link...and it is definitely the monster i photographed (don't you think i took a great shot?!)



Although a monster...it was too pretty for words....the apple green colouring was almost hypnotic in it's perfection....shame i didn't get to see and photograph the next stage, when it turns black....but anyway...i will die happy now, knowing that i saw something so lovely....in a scary sort of way!!)





DD

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 20:02

Disgusting creature. I'd have dissected it with a knife to see what was inside it.

stilluvithere



Joined: 03/12/2008
Posts: 765

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 22:42

Daisy you are welcome

BoTanica


Joined: 22/12/2009
Posts: 714

Message Posted:
16/08/2010 09:44

LaptaMike mess 3:



The silk worms were actually kept in special sheds and fed the leaves (white mulberry) every day, so they weren't "wild" so to speak, but "farmed". My friends grandparents kept them and said they made a real racket when munching!! There are a couple of eco type villages that still practice this old tradition but not sure of the names. Perhaps the tourist info place could give you more information.

bridie


Joined: 18/09/2008
Posts: 308

Message Posted:
16/08/2010 19:01

We had the Oleander Hawk Moth in the sitting room the other evening. He was beautiful. We caught him and took him outside to release him, and he flew straight up into the night sky.