In Action
Added 2023-10-18 14:45:21 +0000 UTCYesterday I saw these two little worms hard at work, and set up my camera to film. I left the camera running for just over four hours - and here's the little time lapse that resulted. You can really get a sense of how long it takes them to spin their cocoons. The worm on the left is spinning the "floss" that supports the cocoon - that scaffolding I've been talking about. This thread is thicker than the thread that they spin the cocoon from, and it's discontinuous, the worm will stop and start as it gets itself organized.
On the right, a worm that has finished with the floss, and their cocoon is starting to take shape. They're spinning a finer filament, and constantly. They will not stop, nor break the thread for two to three days, working without cease.
Just for fun, you can watch it start to get dark in the background and the light flickers a little as the wind blows what's left of the leaves on my backyard tree. As an aside, I was entirely contend to leave these two sitting out in the open like that - once they begin work, they will not wander.
Stephanie
