Atlasfalter (Attacus atlas)

    Moin alle zusammen,


    Ich habe vor ca. einem halben Jahr meine erste erfolgreiche Attacus Atlas Zucht durchgeführt. Als ich eines morgens aufwachte saß plötzlich ein Atlasfalter an meinem Vorhang. Es war ein herrlicher Anblick! Die Eier hatte ich von Thomas Maag bekommen. Die Elterntiere hatten eine Spannweite von 25 cm. Doch der Falter hatte eine Spannweite von „nur“ 16 cm. Nun überlege ich woran es liegen könnte und möchte es dann noch einmal versuchen um hoffentlich größere Falter erzielen.


    Ich habe die Eier und die L1-L3 Raupen bei einer Luftfeuchtigkeit von 70-90% und einer Temperatur von 25°C an Ligustrum ovalifolium gehalten. Danach habe ich die Raupen an Ligustrum ovalifolium Zweige in der Vase gesetzt. Die Vase stand in meinem Zimmer in einem Aerarium. Zimmertemperatur lag ungefähr bei ca. +/–20°C. Es gab eine kleine Futterpause von ca. 1 Woche, da ich im Urlaub war und mein Nachbar, der die Raupen füttern sollte krank geworden sind. Die Puppen habe ich mit Sicherheitsnadeln im gleichem Aerarium wie die L4-L6 Raupen aufgegangen. Von ”Schnägge” weiß ich, dass seine Falter bei Zimmertemperatur auf über 30 cm gekommen sind. Was habe ich falsch gemacht? Ich freue mich über antworten und Tipps!


    Liebe Grüße

    Bela

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    I've never raised Attacus, but I have read that giving them a variety of food plant is helpful, other than that, it's probably

    the food plant in general, a constant supply of fresh food, I typically change food plant before there are any signs of

    wilting or drying.

    Having a break in feeding is not going to be good at all, "dwarfism" if you can call it that, is often caused by rearing issues,

    usually something to do with the food plant, or lack of.

    You can also try dextrose mixed in the vase water, or sprayed on the leaves, a tablespoon per quart/liter.

    Unfortunately, in captivity, second generation adults have a strong tendency to be smaller than their paternal specimens. A few common factors that contribute to this include:

    - Suboptimal host plants; many host plants that polyphagous moths will accept in captivity, are not the ones they are adapted to feed on in the wild. Wild caterpillars of Attacus atlas don't roam on Ligustrum plants in Asia.

    - Suboptimal temperatures; too high temperatures will accelerate their development resulting in them pupating early resulting in smaller specimens, and too low temperatures impair their growth and metabolism, resulting in smaller specimens

    - Genetic factors: in captivity animals are crossed with brothers/sisters leading to expression of recessive traits

    - Food competition: in the wild, Attacus atlas larvae do not compete over food, while in captivity they can, if raised together in a cage where they can run out of leaves


    Overall there are many complicated factors that can result in the smaller Saturniidae specimens we sometimes see in captivity, including some ones I didn't even mention (stress, illness, hydration, or even their vitality - smaller and weaker specimens that die off in the wild, have a bigger chance of surviving in captivity, etc.).


    For Attacus sp. I would recommend Ailanthus, atleast A. atlas seems to grow large on it, and it is one of their natural host plants.

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