Cocoon or Bust

[jwa121]

I once reared a large number of beautiful caterpillars (on Privet: Ligustrum ovalifolium) of the (Texas) Saturniid moth species Eupackardia calleta. My stock was from San Antonio, Texas.

Eupackardia calleta caterpillars spin hard, dense, exquisitely sculpted cocoons. Native Americans sometimes used the calleta cocoons as rattles. The pupae inside these cocoons can diapause for several years. I witnessed this, firsthand.

Anyway, something went haywire with the behavioural repertoire of one (and only one) of my mature Eupackardia calleta caterpillars. Instead of spinning an exquisitely sculpted, hard, smooth, grey cocoon, the caterpillar produced a loose, wild, chaotic, tangled mess of silk that in no way resembled a cocoon of any kind.

I found seeing this enlightening. Perfection, or nothing.

John