Last summer I
posted the photo above and identified the eggs as those of the Black swallowtail, because we had found them on Queen Anne's Lace, a favorite food plant for the BST. I was wrong, and never amended the post. Time to provide followup.
Several weeks later the early instars (above) were ravenously eating, and it was obvious they were not swallowtail caterpillars. I had no idea what they were until several more weeks had passed...
These are the classic "yellow bear" caterpillars, similar to and I think related to the even better-known "wooly bear" caterpillars. They grew rapidly and finally began "pacing" around the container, looking for a place to pupate.
So, I put them in a shoebox which contained mulch and leaf litter, into which they could burrow. By the end of August a couple had eclosed (one is visible on the inner surface of the box at the top left). The others stayed in their cocoons, and decided to overwinter and await more pleasant weather before emerging.
The cocoons are difficult to see in the litter - even when you know they are there. There's one in the mass of organic material above, on top of the big leaf and under the little leaf fragment.
Here's an easier one to see. I've detached some of the mulch, and you can see a bit of the silk underneath. Click this pic (and the others) for fullscreen version.
The overwintering moths began emerging at the end of May. These are the Virginia Tiger Moths, very attractive mostly-white, fuzzy moths.
This one is perched on my finger, raising his wings to show a few of his spots. I had hoped to move the wings to show the coloration on his abdominal segments, but when I touched him, he flew away...
Addendum:
Magickcanoe has a photo of the coloration of the abdomen, and a better image of how the cat's body hairs are incorporated into the cocoon.
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