Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Milkweed Bugs, Tuesday, May 19, 2020

My last observation was Monday, so it’s been four days since then.  We’ve had a big development with one of the mini-habitats.

  • Mini-habitat #1 There is still a large group of bugs near the top of the bag. I am going to do a test to see if it’s air or light or something else they are seeking. I places a piece of masking tape over the top of the bag. The air holes are still open but this will provide shade from the sun. We’ll see what happens. (See photos)





  • Mini-habitat #2 Mold has begun to grow on the food supply. I will have to replace that. Fortnately, I still have the food bags from some of the habitats that I disassembled.  (See photo)






















  • Mini-habitat #4 There is also mold on this food bag. I wonder why we suddenly have mold growing. What has changed since we started? (See photo) 




















  • Mini-habitat #5 I saw a behavior today I have not see before. Two bugs seemed to be fighting or wrestling together. I wonder if this was an attempt at mating (See picture)






  • Mini-habitat - Extras - Lots of bugs near the air holes. I took a picture of a group of exoskeletons.   (See picture)




We are down to five active habitats now. I can no longer identify any of the original adults we started with. Some may still be in the bags, but the offspring are so large, I can not tell them apart any more.

I will make more observations on Saturday of this week…watch your email for a notification of when I post.  

Stay safe!


Contact information: 
Remind: text @497h7k to 81010

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