Today is day 9 from hatching, and while I was doing a quick glance check, I noticed one of the catty butt seem to have some loose skin. Because it is only day 4 from the last moult, i didnt think it was moulting. But I stopped to check for a while anyway.
To my surprise, it really was moulting. I quickly took my handphone to take a video before it is about to be fully shedded.
According to one of the source that I was using as reference (NUS Wiki - link here) the second instar was supposed to last for 8-10 days. But here, it has only been four days. Even if we might have missed some early moulting, it would have been at best 5 days only. Is it because the weather has been hot? Checking on a few more caterpillars, it appear that more than one might have moulted into third instar, as we see at least three head capsules on the tank floor.
The caterpillars now measure an approximate 2-2.5cm in length. The third instar is supposed to be 13-14 days. Will continue to observe and document if that is true in these specimens.
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