Posts by Butterflygirl

Hello,

I was curious where everyone gets their artificial diets specifically ones for Arctiid caterpillars, but I'd be happy to hear about other families too.

So It's the third day after the first moth, a male, hatched and I have tried to feed him. It is a struggle for sure. I almost lost him twice, once when he flew away and the other when the cat almost ate him. I watched a couple videos on how to hand feed them to make sure I was doing it right. He keeps slipping out of my hands as I try to unfurl his proboscis. I am afraid of hurting him or all of his scales rubbing off. I didn't get to feed him this morning because I was busy with personal matters. So I tried to feed him at night and I think that is my mistake. Will he be easier to feed in the morning?

ow would I go about capturing Arctiid moth species? I have found a large variety of Geometer moths, but have yet to see any Arctiid moths. The only other species I managed to find was a male Waved Sphinx moth. I really love tiger moths and wasp moths because they're so beautiful and their caterpillars are so fuzzy. I would really love to specialize in raising this sub-family. My favorite so far is the Giant Leopard Moth.

I am glad to hear that! I hope the rest of them start to eat as well.

They might not be hungry after eating through the shell, but when mine don't eat I put them in a warm dark place (not wet or too moist) and usually by the next day they have started to eat. I had to do this recently with three species (Promethea Moth, Eupackardia calleta, and Lerina incarnata.) However, it's not always successful. I lost a few Promethea caterpillars because they refused to eat any host plants.

I bought Rothschildia lebeau cocoons from a contact in Arizona earlier this year and kept them warm. The females both hatched and so I waited for the males to hatch. One female expired and the last living female is fading with age. I decided to open the cocoons to see if they were still alive. What I found was odd. All three males had abnormalities in the abdominal area with one completely missing. The other male had a hole in his abdomen and the last one was so deformed that it shouldn't have developed so far. The weirdest thing was that their upper half was completely developed. What do you think caused the malformations in the males only?

I have two pair of mourning cloaks this season, but I cannot get them to breed. I have set out spoiled bananas (a little soy sauce) for them to drink and a potted willow and a rose for the females to lay eggs on. I have always wanted to raise them from egg to adult so any advice would be nice. Do I have to force feed them?

Hi, Radusho, thanks. I thought that might be the case.

I have one male and one female mourning cloak who just hatched today. I'd like to raise some caterpillars, but I'm not sure how to get them to mate. Any advice? Thanks.