Breeding Saturniidae few questions - need help please

hi there, I have experience with daily butterflies, from moths I succesfully bred Daphnes nerii and Acherontia atropos. I want to get into Saturniidae and have few questions. Is their breeding more difficult than Sphyngidae? Which species would You advice me to get? Im looking for a challenging project and I want some really outstanding Saturnids as they will be also probably in my collection which Im trying to set. Should I focuse on Saturniidae from one region and trying to complete it or would You advice me to do worldwide? Id like to have order in my things, so I think genus after genus or so, any tips are extremely appreciated aswell as tips for the species. You can share Your own experiences, as a beginner with this family Im opened to Yours suggestions. Thank You very much, last question would be probably recommendation of some good books on Saturniidae. Have a nice evening and thank You all for help

Quote from kevink

Your experience may vary. Some Saturniidae are difficult to pair, what works for one breeder may not work for you,

for the most part, Lepidoptera in general are fairly similar.

I try to keep genus together, it all depends on how much space you have, I also try to keep natives separate from

non-natives,

Thank you very much, Im a beginner and would like to try local species first

Quote from glischrochilus

Hello Martin,

I can recommend the book "Saturniidae of the World" by Rudolf E. J. Lampe. It gives a good overview and also some breeding informations, though in german. But at least you can discover the foodplant used. It´s not cheap, but worth it´s money.

Or you search the internet, for example Saturniidae world or BOLD-systems.

Thomas

Thanks Thomas, Ill take a look for this book!

Quote from Maxopia

Saturniidae take a bit more care and time to feed up and spin, but many are easy to breed and will pair very easily as long as you are careful with hygiene and moisture if in plastic containers !

I have a few PDF care sheets I have put together for beginners if you would like? They are basic and step by step, so easy to follow and gain confidence from. They are of ones I have bred successfully.

I refer to my old book quite a lot mentioned by Kalamay above:

"A Silkmoth Rearer's Handbook" by Brian O.C. Gardiner

Let me know if interested in PDF Caresheet on my email as they are large files.

andychharper@icloud.com

Kind regards

Andy

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Thank you very much Andy, Im definitely interested in the pdf files and will contact you by the email

Quote from Kalamay

Hi Martin,

try these :

"A Silkmoth Rearer's Handbook" by Brian O.C. Gardiner

"Foodplants of World Saturniidae" by Stephen E. Stone

Dieter

p.s. If you need a reference source, contact me by PN (mail)

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Thanks Dieter, I really appreciate your help with the books