New to moths. Female Arctia caja not calling males?

    Hi everyone,


    I've tried to call in wild males with a female in a 30 cm pop up cage, but with no luck.


    I've searched online how it looks when female moths are trying to call males but i'm not sure if it's different for every species.


    The first couple of night after it eclosed I put it outside, I checked it regurlarly after midnight. But it's just staying still, clinging to the netting. Till today 9 days after emerging it started laying infertile eggs.


    I'm guessing there's no way now to get her to be fertilised, as I read that they only have enough pheromones for the first 2-3 nights? Or is it possible to handpair them?


    Any advice is greatly appreciated.


    Regards,


    Joris

    • We specialise in rare and common butterflies from the Neotropical (Central/South America, Caribbean Islands) and Holarctic regions (North America, Europe, Asia).
    AD

    Speaking in generalities, every species calls for mates at different times of the day or night. That's normal, but, there are endless

    abnormal behaviors that happen time to time.

    The possibility exists that no males are nearby or present. Typically, males moths hatch first, then the females, but in nature, things

    are not always typical.

    I have never read about a limited amount of female pheromone, but that doesn't mean it isn't accurate, it does sound implausible however.

    Handpairing is usually used on larger animals, although I suppose it's possible.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login