adult moth
Photo by Jim Kalisch
Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
http://entomology.unl.edu/images/cecropia/cecropia.htm
Our Cecropia Moths
Cecropia Moth Information
Cecropia Moth Links
  EXPERIMENT BY MR. TONNESEN
    Mr. Tonnesen kept his cocoons in various conditions.  He labeled each cocoon with a piece of thread to indicate the conditions it was stored over the winter.  He has asked us to keep a record of the number of moths that emerge from each color of thread.  This will help determine how he stores his cocoons over the winter in the future.
cocoons cocoons cocoons
Cocoons for four classes from Mr. Tonnesen. The first group are white thread, the second group is black thread , the third group is purple, the fourth group is green thread , and the fifth group is blue thread.  
Photo by Mrs. Gray's Second Grade, 2005
jar
Photo by Larry Tonnesen, 2005
This picture doesn't actually show any cocoons, but they were there anyway.  There were 40 cocoons in a 1 gallon glass jar with a tight lid which had several very small holes buried under the snow at the base of this little apple tree. These cocoons are marked with purple thread.
apple tree
Photo by Larry Tonnesen, 2005
This photo shows a fiberglass screen 'sleeve' that I used to raise the caterpillars while they were feeding of this apple tree.  There were 40 cocoons in this sleeve which was exposed to all the weather. These cocoons are marked with blue thread.
inside barn
Photo by Larry Tonnesen, 2005
This photo shows another sleeve with 40 cocoons.  This one was inside an insulated, but unheated, workshop in my barn. These cocoons were marked with black thread.
outside but in barn
Photo by Larry Tonnesen, 2005
This photo also shows a sleeve with 40 cocoons.  This one was in a south facing doorway to my barn, and is subject to all the weather also, but is slightly (but not completely) protected from rain and snow. These cocoons were marked with white thread.

A fifth group of 20 cocoons are in a loosely lidded plastic container in the crisper section of our refrigerator. These cocoons are marked with a green thread.
Graph
small moth = 1  emerged moth
THREAD COLOR and CONDITIONS
 1
 2
 3
 
Purple thread is for those that spent the winter inside a glass jar on the
ground, sometimes covered with snow.
 moth male
05/19/05
 moth female
05/26/05
 
Blue thread is for those that spent the winter suspended between two limbs
of an apple tree.
 moth female
05/02/05
 		moth female
05/03/05
 
Black thread is for those that spent the winter suspended inside the barn
where no weather reached them.
 small moth female
05/08/05
 		female moth female
05/26/05
 		moth female
05/29/05
 
White thread is for those that spent the winter suspended from the top of
the entrance to my barn exposed to the south.
 moth male
05/02/05
 		moth male
05/22/05
 		moth female
05/26/05
 
Green thread is for those that spent the winter in the crisper portion of our
refrigerator.
 small moth male
05/11/05
 		moth male
05/22/05
 		moth male
05/22/05

Chart of Total Experiment
As of June 12, 2005

Glass Jar
 In Tree
 In Barn
 Barn Door
 Crisper
40
 40
 40
 40
 20
 No. of Cocoons
1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 Adair P.O.
1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 Mrs. Ruth
1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 Neal's
1
 1
 1
 1
 1
 Johnson's
2
 2
 3
 3
 3
 Mrs. Gray
10
 7
 11
 10
 2
 Larry's
1

1
Minnesota
17
 13
 18
 18
 9
 Totals



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