Fertile or not?

Zitat von Elfin

tell me how to know an female moth already mated

Mostly impossible to explain by words.
It must be show live.

sorry.

Rudi

I don´t know your possibilities.
But it would be not to easy for a layperson.

I wrote these:

Zitat

Mostly impossible to explain by words.
It must be show live.

Or you will put the female in a cage and hope she will laying eggs.
And you have to feed her minimum every second day.
And if you will find males, put some of them in the cage also.

Rudi

Dear Elfin
Acherontia is difficult to know if mated or not.I would take the advice of putting a male if one comes available.
You can watch if the moth calls for a mate.Generally a mated female will even mate a second or third time if a male is available.
It is a matter of patience and if you provide foodplant a mated female will lay eggs without problems.
Still egg laying is spread on several days so feed the moth until a male is in hand.
if a male is avalable preserve the male after pairing and release it again with the female after a few days of egg laying.Acherontia will live long enough if fed.
Regards
Aldo

Do you know the difference between fertile and fertilized? The first is ready to mate and able to produce eggs, the latter means the state of having mated and about to deposit eggs. I suppose you mean fertilized.
Unfertilized female moths usually send pheromones to attract males by protruding a little stick without hair on the tip of the abdomen at a certain time of day/night.
If you have obtained the lachesis female from wild (caught it?) it is pretty likely to be already fertilized. In order to obtain eggs they say in Acherontia you have to feed the fertilized female.

Acherontia is different from other moths because it feeds with honey in nature. It never feeds on flowers and usually rejects diluted honey solutions sutable for most butterflies and moths. It is better to propose 50% honey solution. Or even 100% liquid honey, but then you also need to give it water, so I prefer 50% (do not try to feed a butterfly with such a strong solution of honey, it may cause crystallisation of honey in its gut). Sometimes it can eat itself, usually if you have honey in bee's cells (combs). But usually you need to feed it. Take a moth by the thorax with two fingers, one below (between the legs) and one above. Hold it rather strolgly, Acherontia moths are strong and not easy to smash. Do not hold by sides, it makes a moth very annoyed Using the other hand with a needle, place the needle incide the ring-shaped folded proboscis, unfold it and put into honey solution. The moth may not start eating with the first atempt, but generally does after some tries if it is hungry.
Acherontia does not need leaves for oviposition, but putting some Solanum or ash or whatever it uses in Indonesia may improve the result.

Hi Alfin, you are in Kalimantan right?
I am from Sulawesi (South Sulawesi)

are you interested in A. Lachesis breeding?
worth trying. I have brood lachesis for times since past years. it is nice to show and explain you how to breed them
First thing you have to know is their host plant. you have to have a good size host plant to put in your cage. potted host plant for sure.
Second thing is your cage setting must be as in nature (better)
sexing moth to put inside the cage
feeding frequency, honey+drinking water mixing composition and perfect feeding time

I am breeding A. Lachesis at the moment and get lots eggs everyday.
now I have hundreds of baby Lachesis.

regards,
Aras
Palopo, South Sulawesi