On my last hike in the Gothe State Forest, the woods were alive with new flowers, growing plants, butterflies, and plenty of other insect life. I’ve been trying to keep an eye open for eggs, larvae and nymphs, and cocoons and chrysalises as well as adult insects. There are many insects that over winter in either a larval form or as a cocoon or chrysalis and a first generation of many of the multigenerational species are already in adult form and breeding to produce that next generation. Of course, the best known larval type is the caterpillar, but plenty of other insects have multiple stages that lead to the formation of a pupa for maturation into the adult form. Some pupa are microscopic while others are easy to see with the naked eye.

On my latest hike I found this hatch cocoon artfully attached to a couple blades of grass. Despite several hours of reading, I was unable to identify what may have made it. I did, however, rule out that is was made by a butterfly caterpillar. Apparently, all butterflies produce a chrysalis, which has a hard shelled and is made with bodily secretions, while moths and some other insects make a cocoon, which is spun from silk and is softer and fluffy looking kind of like cotton (although not always necessarily white). Spiders can also produce egg sacks that are spun from silk and can sometimes look like a small cocoon.

I cannot absolutely say this isn’t a spider egg sack, but if it is, it’s quite large (it was about an inch long). We do have some good sized spiders that live here, but their eggs still hatch out as tiny little spiderlings that grow rapidly. Based on my research I’m pretty sure this is a moth cocoon, possibly that of a tussock moth, but I can’t say for sure. If any of you have any ideas, or have seen something like this before, please let me know. I’d love to be able to identify it, just for my own knowledge. The fact that I haven’t had any luck identifying it doesn’t make it less beautiful or interesting. I’ve always loved a good mystery!