Diet ingredients:
Part 1
Wheat germ 80g
Soy protein 32g
Sugar 27g
Wesson's salt mix 8g
Sorbic acid 2,7g
Torula yeast 16g
Choline chloride 1g
Cholesterol 1g
Part 2
Vitamin mixture 1.5g
Ascorbic acid 4g
Canamycine sulphate 0.07g
Streptomycine sulphate 0.26g
Othrer ingredients
Formaline 37% 3ml
Linseed oil 4ml
Agar 25 g
Water 800 ml
To prepare the diet I add agar to cold water and boil it. After that I add the first part of ingredients and after the temperature of this mix will decrease to 60-65°C I add all other ingredients and cool the diet. Prepared diet may be storaged in a refregirator for 1-2 weeks in a plastic box.
Caterpillars of A. atropos start to feed on the second day. It is very important to use small cups for 1-instar larvae. And it is better to keep them separately. If a caterpillar grows on a plant, it will not start to eat the diet.
The development time is approx. 18 days at 27 °C. Butterflies reared on this diet are large and fertile