Holding males while waiting for female

Hi Wayne,

I usually keep my males in dark boxes by low temperatures to minimize their activity. maybe the ref is to cold ? but you should not place them under lights and warm temperatures untill the females have hatched.

Kind regards

felix

When I tried placing moths in my refrigerator it seemed to permanently sap all the energy from them. Maybe I have it set to cold for there liking. Possibly a wine refrigerator at a higher temperature around 50 degrees or so would be better. It would be interesting to find out what the best temperature to keep moths inactive would be.

I have also tried the fridge, I would put a moth in an envelope, pop it in the refrigerator, and I think Michael's experience is similar to
the times I've tried it.
My guess would be for each respective species, the coldest a person might be able to keep them would be a cool night's temperature
from wherever they're native.
It would be an interesting study.

Good Morning.

I make a difference.

If I only need to keep animals for a short time, a few days, until I need to get the copula in the flight cage, I usually place them under steady light at temperatures around 15-17 ° C.
They will be fed every 3 days, if it seems necessary.
So they stay very vital.

If I need the imagos much later, I'll put them in a refrigerator set at 10 ° C. This brings their cycle completely on the back burner.
But you have to be careful, especially in non-feeding species, that of course, the animals still "age" because they live on their fat reserves.

greeting
Rudi

A little bit more humidity would be good. About 60% to 80% would be perfect, if it is possible.

I think you are doing the right thing ,with the light they are less active and 10-15C can reflect a cool night so you should be able to hold them for maybe 4 days ??