Thank you, all! I managed to raise 5 to adulthood, and 2 more are still in the pupal stage--hoping they will emerge next spring.
Here are a few pictures:
Caterpillars are striped, various colors:
Pupa. These were either green or brownish, but one was a very pale color. My theory is that the color depends on the surroundings (green foliage or dead foliage):
Adult picture used in banner:
My best adult picture. I'm going to print this and frame it.
It was fun raising them and exciting to see them complete development. I collected the cats and placed them on pawpaw twigs with a few leaves stuck in water. The leaves remained fresh for several days, so I didn't have to change them often. I read that they are cannibalistic, so each cat had its own cage. I'd have to go back and look at my notes, but I think it took about 3-4 weeks to get to the pupation stage, but I started with different ages of cats.
Last year I tried to simply monitor caterpillars as they developed outside on the pawpaw trees, but wasps found them and carried them away!!
with all of the above. Fabulous banner!
)
)
