#pupation

If you are here reading this, chances are you're either a curious extraterrestiral that somehow got hold of this blog's url (greetings!) or you are one of the lucky few who survived the hardships of the first stages of grubhood and somewhat safely matured to trollhood. An applause to you. 👏

Statistically speaking, only a measly 15% of a batch of grubs from a Mother Grub make it to trollhood. The rest either are stillborns, get eaten, get hunted down, or die of natural causes like illnesses or injuries. No matter your caste, you are special.

A curiosity, there is a 2% chance that a single grub egg might have twins. However, the two do not particulary tend to stick together, but they will recognize each other thru scent, both in their larval stage and adult stage.

There is also the typical rivalry that comes with such an occurrence and they might actually try fighting each other, so you might not even know you had a twin in the first place.

Anyway, what happens once the little guy pops out the slimy ball of mucus? Well, at that stage they are VERY small, around the size of your palm. Their eyesight is miserable, and they can barely emit noise. That's when they are allowed a period of stasis in the caves to absorb their egg's slimy nutrients, and grow a little.

Once their eyesight forms a little to the point they can distinguish color and depth, rougly 1.1 feet long, and their horns are no longer little nubs but somewhat a recognizable shape, that's when they're let out on their own.

If you're wondering, at this stage it's virtually impossible to tell a grub's gender (why would you assign it one anyway in the first place?).

Out there they have to survive on their own until they find a Lusus to bond with, unless they meet a horrible demise. Obstacles include the scorching sunlight, Lusii that see them as food rather than kin, and also poachers. Despite their size and apparent helplessness, they do have some tricks up their sleeve.

An example is Rustbloods and Goldbloods just now developing their telekinetic or psiionic powers, which actually makes them slightly more dangerous than a pupated troll, since they cannot control them.

People tend to avoid Cerulean grubs completely (or try to snag them for a ton of cash), because they tend to fire random mind control at their attacker when threatened. It does not last as much as a pupated troll, and feels more like a pounding migraine, but it is very annoying.

Then there's higher castes like indigos and purples, which have abnormal strength. A grub's bite is already nasty by itself as they have some sharp teeth, but when indigos and purples bite, they lock their jaws and don't let go until they're satisfied. And sometimes, they can dig right past your muscle tissue.

You'd think seadweller grubs are an easy catch since they're in confined areas like lakes and rivers and the sea, but those tend to have a strong scent that gets them a Lusus fast (highblood privileges I guess). And those Lusii tend to be very nasty. So, do not try.

Now that we got a look at the castes, what's next?

The Pupation process!

The journey towards trollhood requires some fundamental steps. The grub must be at least one sweep old, have a Lusus it bonded with, and feel safe in an enclosed area like a cave, tree trunk, etc.

Eventually, a grub will start to secrete a foam-like substance from their mouth that is greenish in color: That is them making the cocoon's silk and mixing it with their saliva.

They will soon find a comfortable spot to cocoon up, and each grub was observed to have their own style based on caste and personality: Some hang by a thread, others literally 'glued' themselves on a surface, some lazily sat on the floor like a sack of tubers, And plenty more creative ways.

The silk, when hardened, is surprisingly sturdy. Some trolls keep it as a memento after they pupate, or reuse it for clothing.

It takes a troll half a sweep to pupate, and what goes inside sounds gruesome, but fascinating: The grub's body 'digests' itself sort of, and some specialized cells start to rearrange that slurry around into the new body.

After they hatch, they will have one last reminder of when they used to be trolls: Troll scars. They're present on the sides of one's body, a little more below the armpits. Apparently the middle legs of the larval stage simply fall off and get used in the pupating process.

A while ago I noticed one of them has placed itself on the surface and seemingly died. It wasn't responsive and thats typically the behaviour of a dying grub. To go up on the surface and just lay there. I assume its to be picked up by a predator.

Initially I realised this happened when temperatures suddenly dropped and that they now needed extra heat. So they got a heatmat to stay consistently cozy. But I left the dying grub there. I dont like getting rid if grubs that have not yet turned dark brown or black (certain death)

It was still pale yellow/white even if unresponsive. So off it stays in its container.

In the past two days I noticed the heatmat timer started making weird noises and found it probably broke. So during replacing the timer today I checked up on the beetles and lo and behold....

It has. Pupated.

Now if you don't know how beetles pupate, they usually construct a tough chamber using their spit from the soil around them. That chamber is rough and hard and perfectly safe and usually at the bottom of all the soil.

This guy.... Or... Gal.

This gal decided what use is a chamber to her?

She gave me a heart attack, she made me mourn. And now she is springing back from the dead like jesus with a middle finger to all usual signs of pupation and just. Pupated right there. On the surface. In broad daylight.

You know what good for her. Good for this girlboss- or guy with incredibly small horns. Godspeed to you.

PLEASE tell your ghost mantis I love them! They’re one of my favorite species :)))

Yes it’s a monarch! The little black blob on top of the chrysalis is the shed skin from when the caterpillar molted into a chrysalis. I think it’s a common misconception that the chrysalis forms OVER the caterpillar like a cocoon, but it actually forms underneath the caterpillar’s skin, and the old skin is molted to reveal the chrysalis.

Here’s a time lapse video of that happening if you skip in to about 30 seconds

Angel Pupation

Not all insects pupate, some just change a little at a time each time they molt. This is "incomplete metamorphosis". Pupation happens when an insect undergoes a "complete metamorphosis" a more dramatic change where it breaks down the larval body and forms the adults structures from "imaginal discs".

*googles* But!

Looks like "the completeness/mushiness [of histolysis] depends on the order the insect belongs to."

I'm not getting results on the species-specific differences here in the half hour I allotted to googling this (I've got zines to work on), but it's still the difference between a fly, beetle, butterfly, moth, etc larva and an adult of the same species. So, a HUGE change. With few structures (probably the most important ones like breathing) left intact or even marginally similar.

For the first time ever I’ve found ladybug larvae in my garden! These beneficial bugs prey on aphids in both their larval and adult stages so I am very excited that they’re living in my tomatoes.

Today I discovered that one of them has pupated on the outside of a tomato pot! A short while later another larva appeared in its pre-pupa stage. I looked around the pots for more and found another pupa on the shady side. All three are on the same tomato pot: the one that gets the most sun. Two of them will be in direct sun while they pupate and I hope they don’t get too hot, but I trust that they know what they’re doing!

I really, really hope I get to watch one of them emerge! I don’t know how long it’ll take before they’re ready, but I’ll keep checking them and find out!

Snowberry Clearwing pupation! The lines on the side are the breathing tubes (tracheae) coming out--they grow a new set with each molt! 

The whole video is too long for tumblr, so check out the whole video here (I recommend speeding it up): https://youtu.be/R5SBvXdzqjA 

 Pupation filmed June 26, moth emerged July 8!