Beiträge von HeliconiusAl

    On a Monarch with its large and tough wings that seems to be easy but wonder how long it lasts.
    I have not tried that type of glue so I will try it next time. What I need most of all is a way to put the BF to sleep for about 20 minutes for time to do the operation.
    On some BFs the scales would interfere with the effectiveness of the glue so I would gently remove some in the glued area on both the upper and lower surfaces.
    In the case of newly emerged BFs with some wing damage I have noticed that they can not fly on the first day but may be able to fly on later days!
    Not sure why this is but I have seen it in Heliconius charitonius a number of times so you may not have to repair the wings in order for them to fly adequately (at least in a flight cage).
    I certainly have seen them also fly with quite a bit of one forewing broken off as they get older.
    I thought the video of the egg hatching was also interesting.
    I'm not quite sure how the hatchling knows it has eaten a large enough hole in the shell to get out.
    Does it feel the edge of the hole with its head capsule or how does it know when it has eaten enough?

    :falter: :blume:

    Dear Roland- I use Altavista to translate so maybe I don't know what you are asking and I was hoping someone with more knowledge would reply. If you have a few smaller larvae that are having a small amount of trouble shedding their skin you can help to take it off. It is a very delicate job with fine tweezers and scissors. You just cut the old skin starting at one or both ends and tug gently on it to separate it from the caterpillar. Of course even the slightest cut on the caterpillar and you have wasted your time. I don't know for sure but I suspect the larvae are dehydrated, possibly due to some disease or maybe just not enough fully hydrated food plant. I have saved some this way. Good luck!