Atlas rearing

    Hello!


    I am a high school student from the US who wants to have success with attacus atlas in captivity.
    I have reared them before when I was younger on ligustrum ovalfolium before and that was a disaster (because of my inexperience I crowded all caterpillars in badly ventilated containers). I want to improve this time and hopefully get a few to make cocoons. Are there any hosts that they well on? Will lisgustrum ovalfolium do well for caterpillars (as this is the only privet in my area)? Any other hosts plants like Australian Willow or Olive that may also work?
    Also, any tips for keeping caterpillars would be very appreciated! :smiling_face:



    Thank you all very much for reading!


    kind regards,
    Jason

    • http://www.insektitaet.de
    AD

    Hi Jason,
    you can experience by yourself as Attacus atlas is really prone to eating many species. You can feed them for sure on Prunus laurocerasus (cherry laurel) and Ailanthus (tree of heaven) but if you have other shrubs or trees in your area you can try all of them and see if they accept it or not. Look up on this link the complete listing of all possible fodder plants for Attacus atlas:


    https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-scie…ies=&Country=&sort=Family

    Hello Jason,
    my best experiences had been with Ligustrum ovalifolium, for the bigger caterpillars also Prunus laurocerasus.
    At the start I always keep them in a cricket box (with small holes as for the bigger crickets for better ventilation) and some toilet paper at the bottom. Please change the paper often but don't remove the caterpillars as they can be hurt.
    When they grow bigger they are better kept in a mesh cage.
    The cut food can be standing in water but make shure that caterpillars can not reach the water and drown.
    Brgds
    Jan

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