Unknown Chrysalis

[matt_xyz]

can anyone identify this chrysalis please? I found 2 of them today in the soil in my garden. This one was 27mm long, the other one slightly smaller.



Matt

[sunnydale]

Swift moth perhaps?

[matt_xyz]

Thanks, I think you're right.

Matt

[triops]

This is a pupa, sometimes called a chrysalis. A cocoon is the (mostly) silk protection used to cover many pupae. It is most likely one of the Noctuidae, though not one of the swift moths (Hepialidae), which have characteristic pupae.

[matt_xyz]

Apologies for sloppy terminology, I've amended the thread accordingly.

Do many moths emerge from the soil like this? It seemed a strange place to find a pupa.

Matt

[2dogs2000]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

Do many moths emerge from the soil like this? It seemed a strange place to find a pupa.

Matt

I beleive some of the hawkmoths do.

[triops]

The majority of our Macro moths pupate either in soil or in leaf litter or debris on the ground. An old technique called "pupa digging" involved digging around treetrunks to find many species.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by triops

The majority of our Macro moths pupate either in soil or in leaf litter or debris on the ground. An old technique called "pupa digging" involved digging around treetrunks to find many species.

A technique for what? What did they do with them?

[Harry Eales]

Originally Posted by Deb London

A technique for what? What did they do with them?

Hello Debs,

Pupae Digging is a very old way of obtaining perfect insects for either breeding or for the Insect Cabinet. It was brought to a state of perfection by the Rev. Green in the mid 1800's and he published a 'paper' on precisely how to do it.

I have engaged in this winter practice for over half a century and I have found a few species I have never been able to capture by any other method.
It keeps me busy on winter days when there is little else to do in the recording line.

You can actually start in August or even earlier if you wish. I once dug over 40 pupae from under one Oak Tree. All emerged and they turned out to be Merville De Jour, a magnificent moth when freshly emerged. It's such a shame that they fade in a day or two.

Other pupae can be found by splitting the stems of the larval foodplant, The Frosted Orange frequently pupate in the stems of Burdock, Thistle or Ragwort, once you know the clues to look for, they are quite easy to find, as are the pupae of the Bulrush Wainscot in Typha.
Harry

[Deb London]

Thanks Harry. That is a practice that I never knew existed.