Hello!
I recently posted a question regarding feeding to the Lepidoptera forum of Insect.net asking for tips on hand-feeding Acherontia atropos but was told to post my questions here due to the lack of users and experienced breeders. I wanted to know if there's a less stressful way (for them and me) to feed them as I worry about harming them or rubbing off too much fluff and scales. I have been feeding them, the ones that will drink, a 1:3 honey-water ratio by hand every day in the afternoon when I didn't forget and feed them that night. Others will not drink no matter how much I try. Unfortunately, two of my male moths have died and I'm not sure if it is because they didn't eat enough or they have lived their maximum life span. I must be doing something correctly as the males have paired females who have laid a lot of eggs which brings me to my real problem. I can't keep all of the eggs, but as they were laid while I was sick I don't know when exactly they were laid and when they will hatch if I wanted to sell some. I don't want people paying money and losing the eggs/larvae. As some of you know A. atropos consumes a lot of foliage late into its larval stage so raising hundreds of caterpillars near the end of the summer is not feasible
As a test, I bought two honeycombs to see if they would feed. Though I never physically saw them feed from the comb, I suspect that some have been as the wax caps on a few cells are punctured leaving some empty. The combs are even littered with dust from their wings. I will test this again with the next brood.
