Into the fifth instar

Over the last few days, the cats have neared the end of this phase of their lives. Sunday afternoon the larger caterpillar molted for the final time prior to pupation.

He turned 14 days old today, and is truly glorious! His (or is it “her”? I ‘ll have to wait for pupation to find out!) yellow/white/black stripes are more vivid than ever, and his front tentacles twirl and twine like an animate fu manchu.

He's gotten a lot bigger now that he's in his fifth instar.

I can finally see the cat's spiracles - the tiny holes leading to the tracheal tubes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiracle).