the silk moths finally started emerging friday night. so far-as of tonight (sunday), 6 of the 12 are hatched out of the cocoons-5 males and one female-finally. first 5 males hatched and i was getting worried there wouldn’t be a female before the males died-apparently 36-48 hours after hatching. the first pair is mating now.
moth at work-emerging
a moth in hand...
moths emerge
what a handsome fellow!
looking like he's ready for takeoff!
but really, they can’t fly at all!
mask
this last photo shows a cocoon i sliced in half after the moth emerged. you can see the pupae casing as well as the silkworms face that comes off separately. it’s as if he was wearing a mask and in his transformation from silkworm to moth he casts it aside-ready for the next short phase. beautiful.
note- i added a few of these on my flickr site in large format-
Shibori Girl 
This is truly fascinating, and I don’t even like moths!
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this is simply wonderful, really great close-ups, glennis.
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thank you so much for this documentation. wow. aren’t they amazingly beautiful. and the mask. what a glorious sight.
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when i get a minute i’m going to upload a few of these to my flickr in large size images so you can see them in GREAT detail. so cool to see them up close.
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They are cute! like teddy bears with wings (and the ability to make silk)
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so fascinating. i have loved watching this process. thank you for documenting. i know you are a scientist along with being an artist!! so, if they can’t fly, what will they do now?
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Extraordinary ! Thank you for sharing these pictures !
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This has been such a fascinating journey! Thank you so much for sharing it with me 🙂
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glennis –
I admit the silkworms were interesting but not hugely compelling for me, but the moth is very appealing. May I use one of your photos of the emerged male for one of my stitched pieces? I love the head on image best, with his eyes and antenna and fuzzy head!
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but of course! i’d love to see the end result!
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