Chevron Cutworm, Diarsia intermixta
September 1 2016
Hobart
Emerged adults (reared below).
Rearing:
June 20 2016
Hobart
Eggs on Silverbeet in a vegetable garden.
June 26 2016
Day 1
June 30 2016
Day 6
The young caterpillars moved in a looping fashion.
July 4 2016
Day 9
July 8 2016
July 10 2016
July 12 2016
July 14 2016
The caterpillars were consuming about 2 medium silverbeet leaves a day at this point. They would feed mainly at night and hide during the day.
July 17 2016
July 19 2016
As the size was increasing I added soil and a range of dead branches as possible pupation sites.
July 22 2016
July 24 2016
July 28 2016
Numbers were dropping and the food consumption reduced.
August 2 2016
Final remaining caterpillars. After investigating the soil there were obvious soft cocoons covered with soil. The available soil was less than 2cm deep.
Cocoon with exit hole (although this can’t have been the case as there was an intact pupa inside. The cocoon must have lines of weakness that break just prior to emergence.
Pupa
September 1 2016
The abdominal tip was still connected to the cocoon.
Various Adults that started emerging on September 1st – 73 days after the eggs were collected.
