In July of 2022, I found this hard segmented shell stuck to the bricks that framed the door to my workplace. Hanging from it was the outer skin of a hairy caterpillar. The whole assemblage was lightly covered in a ragged group of silk fibers, attached to the anodized aluminum door frame. I’m not sure why so many insects find this north facing door so attractive. Two days later, it was out. After hours of internet searching, I determined that it was a female Gypsy Moth, now renamed in politically corectness to “Spongy Moth.” Note that she has crawled up the brick approximately ONE BODY LENGTH from her original position. This, sadly, is as far as she will ever go in this form.
One hour and four minutes after the above photo was taken, an unknown time after she emerged, she has attracted a mate.
Note the beautiful feathery antennae on the male, half her size. Note also how her face is completely covered by fuzzy stuff. She doesn’t need to see, because she is going to die here in place. Hence, my title. So here below, we see the tan colored egg mass. The “Spongy” stuff.
Well, I don’t really know what’s spongy about it. After a few days, I transferred some of the material to my microscope stage. And the view was remarkable. Tiny transparent balls, held in short strands of silk. The pairs of bright spots on most of the individual eggs are reflections from my microscope lights. Why is one pink? Is it dead? Did some other insect parasitize her egg mass?
These kindof look like tiny bearing balls.
The green arrow shows the developing baby caterpillar, and the beat rolls on. However, I euthanized the entire batch, but not before taking this photo of two of the early hatchlings. Or maybe there are something else. They don’t really seem to be the same shape as the forms inside the eggs.
And this is the sad end of the life of a female Spongy Moth. Even sadder than the life of a barnacle, which has been discussed elsewhere on this page. To end, I will show this beautiful, flaming red bolete mushroom. And below, my giant tomato next to my moderately sized, but very delicious, sweet and fragrant, cantaloupe.
