Atlas Moth Documentation - Hatch Day to Day Three

 After three days following the discovery of the Atlas moth eggs, they started to hatch one by one. Of the 17 eggs, 1 did not hatch which was among those passed to a friend. As mentioned previously, this blog is recording the development progress of the 9 hatchlings that remain in our care. Estimated length: 4mm

The hatchlings wandered around after hatching, and some turned back to feed on their empty eggshells, although not all does so, and most eggshells are not fully eaten. 

We have tried to provide the following leaves to see which would be more popular with the hatchlings. We took young leaves of Mango, Ardisia elliptica, Cinnamon, Champaca and also Hibiscus (not in picture). 

From Left to Right: Mango, Ardisia elliptica, Cinnamon and Champaca

There was almost no feeding on the leaves and no poop on Day 1. Subsequently on Day 2, we observe some feeding on Ardisia, Cinnamon and a little on Hibiscus (which was subsequently removed due to clutter in the containers). 

Day Three - we can notice more significant bite marks mainly on Ardisia, and most of the hatchlings are always on the Ardisia leaves. Champaca remains completely untouched, and Cinnamon is sparingly nibbled on. Looks like we have a winner. However, we do want to keep feeding at least two host plants, to ensure fungibility and ease of locating more food for them, in the event of voracious feeding at the later instars. 

Of the 9, most of them looks to be approximately one cm in length. One of them seems to be the runt of the litter and particularly small. Hopefully it will bulk up soon in the days to come.