I live in the US. I am still somewhat new to Saturniid breeding. Recently I had a male and a female Polyphemus moth emerge in a rearing cage indoors. They came from the same brood although I’m not sure about the generations prior. The second night, the female began laying eggs. I did not observe a pairing. I then released the male since it kept frantically flapping around. The female laid a few eggs at a time over the course of a few days. Last night, I put another newly emerged female outside in a cage to attract a male. This morning I discovered her laying eggs, but what seemed to be all her eggs at once with a bit of dark sticky substance between some of them (I did not see this on the indoor female’s eggs).
My questions are, does this sound like a male came to fertilize during the night? Is there a way to tell if Polyphemus eggs are fertile? And lastly, how long does Polyphemus stay attached while they are mating? Any answers are appreciated.
