Hello everyone,
I would like some help with Actias dubernardi in captivity as I have never reared them before.
Will temperatures around 25C be too hot for the larvae?
I have found P. eldarica, thunbergii, densiflora and roxburghii in my area, will these be suitable foodplants for them?
Are dubernardi very susceptible to disease like Hyalophora? Do you need a lot of ventilation?
Thanks for your time,
Jason
Hello,
Does anyone on this forum know a recipe to homemade silkworm chow that will allow the larvae to grow to maturity? I've read up on some pet forums and such, but details were very inconsistent with the recipe and the results of each recipe for the silkworms. It would be greatly appreciated if any information/feedback is provided!
Regards,
Jason
Hello!
I am a high school student from the US who wants to have success with attacus atlas in captivity.
I have reared them before when I was younger on ligustrum ovalfolium before and that was a disaster (because of my inexperience I crowded all caterpillars in badly ventilated containers). I want to improve this time and hopefully get a few to make cocoons. Are there any hosts that they well on? Will lisgustrum ovalfolium do well for caterpillars (as this is the only privet in my area)? Any other hosts plants like Australian Willow or Olive that may also work?
Also, any tips for keeping caterpillars would be very appreciated! 
Thank you all very much for reading!
kind regards,
Jason
Thanks guys!
Ill be sure to tryout an artificial diet of some sort this spring and share my results
High school student here, I am planning an experiment with B. Mori.
I would like to do the following, but, I am wondering if this is even possible? 
My Plan:
Feed b. mori with:
-graphite powder
-b-12 vitamins
-and some sort of growth hormone
I am not sure if they would eat graphite/vitamin coated mulberry leaves?
My goal is to try to obtain bigger silkworms with stronger silk, and a longer larval stage.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Jason Ni
Other than, that I forgot to address @BartCoppens I, too think cecropia is probably one of the most stressful species I have kept. During my first time with them, pretty much all died during their third instar. I don't have too many good tips at the moment.
Thank you all very much, I'll take in the given advice :). I am a bit worried as I have never kept Euryalus, but I think this upcoming summer could work around that! I just found out about a hybrid index of some sort for saturniidae on Bill's site too, I think that will also be some good reference. hybindex.htm
Also, should I rear both broods of Euryalus and Cecropia on Lilac? I've tried apple before for Cecropia, and that worked out pretty well. Though I have heard there are good results with cherry and others. Over here there is a bunch of liquidamber in my area, but I have heard it doesn't work too well.
High School student here, one of my longtime goals of keeping lepidoptera as a hobby is to attempt to cross breed them. Currently I have a couple questions. Can only species in one genus be able to pair with each other, i.e. hyalophora... X hyalophora...? Is there any technique for pairing them? Do pheromones from one species attract the other species in the same genus? Also, if I do get subsequent larvae would they accept the hosts of the parents? I want to attempt this with hyalophora cecropia x hyalophora euryalus this summer, since in the north america region, the hyalophora genus tends to have natural blend zones. Maybe it might be easier to crossbreed them? Any help would be appreciated, especially anyone with experience on this cross.
Kind Regards,
Jason Ni
On October the 27th I will be planning a wedding release for a daughter of a friend of my mother's, currently I am in high school and I have never tried anything like this before!
I am currently in possession of around 27-30 Vanessa Cardui pupae that I have reared on mallow and am panning to release,
What I am concerned of:
Will they die in the release box because of exhaustion?
Will they not fly out because they aren't warmed up?
Do I have to "warm up" the butterflies before the release?
If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing any help will be much appreciated!!
Kind Regards,
Jason Ni
Thank you guys very much
I recently just got into rearing silk moths this summer, and I really enjoy it. I really would like to expand my knowledge on breeding for the next season, especially hand pairing saturniidae here native to the US. I heard from other sources different moths have different angles of copula or something? Any help/ tips would be appreciated!
