Hornworm cocoon

[Mom]

Hello again,

I'm currently in the process of transferring my new batch of hawk moths to a new container now that they all have hardened in to their cocoons. However there are two cocoons that don't look so good...

The first cocoon looks as if the cocoon has been picked open or something of the sort. Will this hawk moth finish developing correctly, or will it end up dying?

The second cocoon looks like it developed all wrong. Honestly, I can't even tell where it's head is at. Same question applies to this fellow as well; will it still develop into a moth, or die in the end?

Thanks for any input!

 

[Mom]

Here is the one that developed differently...

 

[Mom]

And another picture of the same cocoon

 

[Scout]

IMHO, which is very limited when it comes to horned worms specifically. My best bet would be to discard those two. They seem very malformed.

 

[Mom]

Thank you, scout. I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Gavinsons]

Yes throw them 2 out. Any dead worm can contaminate the soil and kill the rest. I misted my 14 every evening to keep the soil moist and had a 100% hatch rate and now over 600 eggs. Probably 100 that have already hatched and more every hour.

 

[Mom]

Thank you, Gavinsons, I was afraid of that.

I had no problems with my first batch. But this batch already started off ... Differently. The worms were slimy and sluggish that I didn't feel comfortable feeding them off. Hopefully all will go well from here on out.

Thanks again!

 

[sapphira80]

I read this lady's article about breeding hawk moths/hornworms while doing research, and from what she said, it sounds like its not uncommon for them to die while pupating. She also recommended checking the cases weekly in car more die, so you can get them out before they rot. Here's the link:



http://www.clubfauna.com/articles/invertebrates/breeding-hornworms/



Good luck!