Have wings will fly!

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting a brand new moth! :) Got to the vase just in time to see him do this. :)

The moth stayed like this for a while. Moths and Butterflies fan out their wings after emerging to get the fluid flowing into the wings and to expand them. 

Here we see the wings in their normal positing. Though the antennae are still folded back. On top of the cauliflower floret, the discarded cocoon is visible.

Almost ready! The wing tips are turned upwards in a fan like fringe. The antennae are out straight.

Ready to take on the world of vegetables :) Since i have seen it up close i can make out the fan like wing tip in this picture. Hope you can too!







After the moth fluttered away, I took out his larval casing from the vase.

And tried taking pictures using my mini microscope. The pictures are not all that great but boy it was fascinating to observe the new moth and his old larval casing!

This is an image of the cocoon which our friend never really used. 

One end of the casing

Here we can see the segments.

 The one who started out first is still in his cocoon. Although he is much darker now and the wing folds are visible. Will keep you posted on how he does.

I am curious why these two went on different paths. Is is gender dependent, hormonal or environment triggered. Lets see if we find some answers online.

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New observations:

1. The pupa is positioned facing the vase, i.e his back is attached to the glass wall.

2. The body is still a pale color, only the wings are dark brown. Legs are not visible yet.