Monthly Archives: November 2011

Silkworm Update 4

Posted on November 28, 2011 by pehatcher

Soon after my last update the first of the silkworms started to show signs of wanting to spin a cocoon.   I had prepared an insect rearing cage for them, and placed the plastic boxes containing the larvae into the … Continue reading →

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Ammonite feeding

Posted on November 15, 2011 by pehatcher

Although ammonites were the most species-rich group of cephalopods and are among the most abundant fossil animals to be found, in many ways they remain an enigma.  For example, what did they feed upon and why did they all die … Continue reading →

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Insight into eel decline

Posted on November 10, 2011 by ahsbatte

I talked in the lecture on ‘Sargassum and the Sargasso Sea’ about the mysterious migration of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): its putative spawning in the Sargasso Sea and then the return of the young eels (Leptocephali) to European rivers. … Continue reading →

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Silkworm update 3

Posted on November 8, 2011 by pehatcher

  I think I was a little premature last week in saying that most of the larvae were entering their fifth and final instar, as larvae have been moulting all this week, although I think now they are all in … Continue reading →

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Silkworm update 2

Posted on November 1, 2011 by pehatcher

It is almost two weeks since the silkworms arrived at Reading as first or early second instar larvae.  The larvae feeding on mulberry leaves are now entering the fifth and final instar, and some are over 5 cm long and … Continue reading →

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