Conserving pupae in the Fridge

  • Hello Everyone,

    I have some some species that recently made their pupae/cocoon (for example S. pyri, A. tau) and since these require cold winters and the area I am temperatures in winter almost never get lower than 4C I was thinking of putting them in the fridge in a mix of soil and sphangum and change it about 2 in 2 weeks to avoid formation of mold/fungi and keep them with a certain wetness to do not dehydrate.

    With this I have two questions which probably you guys could help me:

    1. Is this method ok? Or do you think I should do it in other way?

    2. Should I put them on the fridge right away or wait for September/October when the temperatures get lower and simulate like in the natural environment?


    Thank you in advance

    Cheers :viele: :applaus:

  • ANZEIGE
  • Hi

    They don't need refrigeration straight away as are strictly univoltine . Keep them at normal outside temperatures for rest of the summer . When the cold weather arrives , put them in an airtight plastic box and then put in fridge for 6-8 weeks ie Jan-Feb . The box must be airtight otherwise the fridge will dry out the pupae . This should be a long enough cold spell . I do not refrigerate all winter as it can cause infertility .

    Hope this helps .

  • I never use soil in the fridge, if you want a substrate to moisten, use cocofiber or moss. I never keep containers airtight, animals

    do not experience airtight conditions in nature. I use a moistened sponge in a container to increase humidity and keep it

    livestock in the veggie crisper part of the fridge. I would wait until fall to store the livestock. About airtight, some people use

    airtight boxes and experience the same results, I've read a post claiming no difference, apparently pupa need very little if

    any air during diapause. Put a humidity meter in with the animals- I have them everywhere..

    When you mist pupa, you're risking mold, and I've found it just isn't needed, most cocoons are water tight anyway. So I have

    experienced varied results with temperature, some species require much colder winters than others, that's not saying you can't

    keep all your stock at the same temperature, just that I have noticed different results with species from cold climates,

    Now that you have what are apparently 3 different approaches- have at it. experience will lead you in the right direction.

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