Saturniden diapause and emergence

    • New

    Hallo zusammen!
    Im Rahmen eines sehr klassischen Hybridisierungsplans mit Kokons, die draußen bei gleicher Temperatur gehalten werden, möchte ich Sie bitten, nach Frühreife des Schlüpfens zu klassifizieren
    - Eudia Pavonia
    - Eudia spini
    - Saturnia walterorum
    - Saturnia pyri
    Welche soll ich nach den Januarfrösten vorziehen und um wie viele Wochen?
    Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufklärung!
    phil


    Hello everyone!
    As part of a very classic hybridization plan with cocoons kept outdoors at the same temperature, I would like to ask you to classify by precocity of hatching
    - Eudia pavonia
    - Eudia spini
    - Saturnia walterorum
    - Saturnia pyri
    After the January frosts, which ones should I advance, and by how many weeks?
    Thanks for your insights!
    phil

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    • New

    I live on the Pacifici coast of the USA, I am pretty sure that Saturnia walterorum is a native of southern California, and probably never sees any frost. The year I tried this species, I kept them outdoors on the Oregon coast, quite a bit further north, but we see very few frosts as well. If they survived your winter, they should emerge fairly early in spring.

    My insight- someone has misinformed you about how to keep Saturnia walterorum.

    • New

    Hi Kevink!

    Thank you very much for your input!

    Indeed walterorum is from S California where it can reach some elevation and can even withstand occasional frost. Actually, I try to give my pupae rather mediterranean temperatures: only very occasionnaly -1°C to -2°C. Otherwise, when it gets colder outside, I bring them to an indoors shelter with 6°C to 8°C max. All of them seem to be well alive, weight is stable...

    I am more worry about hygrometry, because it is rather wet here, much wetter than Oregon! I try to keep them dryer than our local Saturnia. No fungi so far...

    I am mostly wondering whether it is temperature, or day-lenght that has the greater influence on triggering emergence in this species... Any idea?

    cheers!:winking_face:

    phil

    • New

    Wetter than the Oregon coast? Interesting. I kept my cocoons of the Saturnia outdoors in a small cage with a cover so they wouldn't drown, and brought them indoors in the early spring, I never did get any pairings, but was really only interested in specimens. We get cold weather as well, especially in January and Febuary with occasional snow in March, but it never stays cold,I am right on the ocean in mid-Oregon. My guess is it's temperature that is going to trigger emergence, and being small moths, they probably don't take long.

    Unfortunately, the only data I have is when the moths hatched- not when I brought them indoors, presumably sometime in Feb. in any event, I had an eclosion on 2-28 female, 2-29male, and a second male on March 1

    I have no idea how to proceed if I was you, I suppose I would set the larger stock out maybe a week or 2 before the smaller.

    good luck!

    • New

    Hi Kevink !

    I guess that your eclosions in Feb. Mar. were indoors?

    I just checked https://www.wunderground.com history for Florence OR in spring : it is still quite cold outside ! (12AM 2°C , 12PM 10°C).

    Do you already have wild adult moths flying at these dates ?

    • New

    Only mendicino is found in Oregon. I use a site called PNW Pacific Northwest Moths for help sometimes.

    My hatchings were indoors, data from the PNW site, April is peak flight, although there is some variation with locality.

    I have never observed the moth in the wild, many years ago I was gifted some Saturnia mendicino ova, but I've never seen

    them offered. Actually, there is a dusting of snow outside right now, from me, Florence is about 80 miles south. Brookings is the spot to go,

    or inland a bit towards Itsy bitsy towns like Ruch, I've been kicking around a collecting trip, but it's a long drive for such hard to find moths,

    although if you don't go, you definitely won't find any.

    • New

    Unrelated to this post - but if you want better chances of catching mendocino, for example, you can use pheromone lures. All 3 Calosaturnia species come to walterorum lures.

    • New

    I´m of no help in regards to what times you should bring stuff out - but I am very curious what hybrids you are intending to create? I´ve contemplated Calosaturnia x Saturnia for a while now, but haven´t yet gotten a chance to do it.

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