Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 April 2020

LIMPY - so good to hear from you on this thread. Best wishes to yourself, Clare and Helen - and we hope you will pop in again!  (this is OG still writing via E-E's sign-in!)

Hello LIMPY. Glad to know you are still around.  

It has been a glorious day here and we all spent time relaxing in the garden this afternoon.

Benson looks well - and contented.

WendyBartter: Nice to see you, and thank you so much for your suggestion about bringing the cocoon indoors, so I can be assured of seeing the moth emerge. I've thought about it all day.

Here's my concern: The weather in Indiana is very volatile and unpredictable in the spring, especially now that climate change is altering the Midwest. One afternoon, the temperature can reach a balmy 80 degrees F (that's 26.7 C). That night, the temp can plunge below freezing (32 F or 0 C). It can be warm and sunny one day and then snow like a blizzard the next. Because of climate change, the beginning and ending of our seasons are not consistent like they used to be.

I read that the Cecropia moths have a finely tuned sense of time and temperature. They will wait until we have 2 consecutive weeks of seasonally warm weather before they will emerge from their cocoons (usually in early summer). 

I fear that if I bring the cocoon indoors where it's warm, the moth's timing will be thrown off and it will emerge too early. Then, the weather could turn cold again and the moth will freeze. 

Also, I'm not 100% certain what is actually in that sack hanging from the tree. It's fairly large. LOL! I live on a heavily forested, very rural patch with a lot of wildlife diversity, especially insects. I have every species of wasp known to humankind here, and some are huge! The wasps have a wide variety of nests, enclosures, etc. I'm reasonably certain that this is a cocoon, but on this land there's no telling what could emerge from that sack. LOL!!!

Thanks for your help, Wendy! Stop by here anytime. 

Limpy: Hi, friend. So nice to see you. I hope you, Clare, and Helen are well and coping okay in these troubled times. Tell Clare hello from me. Take care of yourselves.

Hello all, thank you Diane for starting us off. What a magnificent moth, let's hope it emerges like the one in the photo.

You all seem to be coping remarkably well - it is just a glitch in life's tapestry and that;s alll we can do is smile through.

Weather has been kind again today and seems to be for the next few days. Watched the morning service this morning and seem to get quite a lot from these . Our minister does a small podcast weekly for Sunday's and rings his parisheners once a week to see how they are.

Nice to hear from Limpy. Do hope Clare and Helen are OK as well.

DIANE – You need a webcam for your cocoon!

I miss going out with my camera but I have plenty of old photos to either cull or prepare for flickr. I am researching (via computer) history of old buildings I hope to photo one day. I look at the calendar and see the cancelled bus trips. I have finished sewing (ugh) buttons on the baby jackets that I knitted ages ago. I am still knitting beanies from leftover wool. The garden gets a daily scan for weeds. Garage cull has ceased but we must resume before next Friday as the last of the recyling has cleared. I am on my last book from my library hoard. Today I shall try the “click & collect” - I place books on hold, library arranges a time for me to pick up from car park. TV is mostly repeats of what I would not watch anyway. And there is the never-ending cooking, cleaning, washing.

Just a thought

I’m not always rude and sarcastic. Sometimes I am asleep.

I don’t want to sleep like a baby, I want to sleep like my husband.

You know you’re old when you barely do anything all day but still need a nap to continue doing barely anything.

I finally got 8 hours of sleep. Took me four days but whatever.

Unknown said:

I'm reasonably certain that this is a cocoon, but on this land there's no telling what could emerge from that sack. LOL!!!

Hi Diane, your weather sounds somewhat volatile, do you have garage/shed/outhouse where you could keep this cocoon in cooler conditions until weather more reasonable, that's how I overwinter my cocoons/pupae then bring them into warmth & spray lightly with water to wake them up at the appropriate time for emerging!  I must google about your possible humungous moth as new to me alright!  It would be a shame if you missed it!

Edit:  Just found out that I could purchase eggs, larvae or male cocoons of this 'Robin Moth' from Worldwide Butterflies, a website I have had much from in past few years for home- rearing ... I did have some lovely Silk moths but of course sad because I couldn't let them fly free here in UK!  Will only have 'locals'  from now on ... btw, the cocoon looks just like yours!