Hello, can anyone tell me if Parnassius sp. will take Sedum telephium/Hylotelephium spectabile ("Autumn Joy")?
I would like to raise Parnassius next year.
Regards,
Jacob
Posts by Hemileuca
-
-
Hello, I have recently acquired over 100 eggs of Sphingicampa bisecta, and am wondering if anyone has advice for raising this species? I have never raised Sphingicampa before. The hostplant I am hoping to use is Gleditsia triacanthos, though i am wondering if anyone knows of alternate hosts?
Kind regards,
Jacob ! -
Greetings,
Has anyone tried using Juniperus species, or Pinus taeda, for Actias neidhoeferi?
I do not have access to Picea, Tsuga, Larix, or Pseudotsuga in my area, and cannot purchase plants of a large enough size to use for larvae, but would love to raise this species.
Regards,
Jacob
-
Hello, I would like to go on a trip mainly centered around insect collecting in South Florida this summer.
However, this state is far away from my own, and I would need to fly there. Of course, I cannot bring my mercury vapor lights on an airplane.
So, what is the solution? How can I bring my equipment to Florida?
I know many people here go on collecting trips to distant countries, so to me this trip to Florida seems as though it could be feasible.
Looking forward to responses and advice,
Jacob
-
Hello, I have several wild females of Cossula magnifica from my light.
I have had them for several days and they have not laid any eggs. I have them in a smaller version of the setup I use for Prionoxystus robiniae.
Can anyone who has bred this species before tell me how to get eggs? I am out of ideas.
Regards,
Jacob
-
Hi,
I had have never problems with feeding them on Juglans regia here in Europe.
But Juglans nigra they don't liked.
Regards
Rudi
For additional hostplants please see:
https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Amorpha-juglandis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorpha_juglandis
Regards,
Karl
I didn't have any Juglans.
I gave them hickory and beech, neither of which they took apparently, as they were dead when I returned from a 2 day trip, and the leaves had no bites taken out of them.
Very unfortunate. I was quite excited to raise this wonderful species.
-
Display More
Hi Jacob, Epiphora moths (and many moths from Africa in general) can be difficult to synchronise in captivity. This is of course a generalisation of a big continent with many different climates, but many places in tropical Africa have a 'monsoon' season (wet, and slightlly cooler) and then a 'dry' season (dry, hotter). Many African Saturniidae are capable of extensively diapausing through the dry seasons.
Unlike temperate species this diapause does not seem to be controlled by cold/warm weather, but perhaps by humid/dry (+barometric pressure?). This can make it hard to simulate in captivity.
For me species like Argema mimosae, Epiphora ssp., Bunaea alcinoe and others have the same issue: they can diapause for years(!) if they don't like the conditions or emerge very sporadically.
The best you could do is look up the weather where they're from in Kenya; perhaps simulate a dry season and a wet season. I tried this in captivity with limited succes (it did work for Argema mimosae one time). Good luck!
And yeah.. I'm not sure if they can survive 3.3C, sorry. It may have killed them.
Then again, some tropical moth species are suprisingly resilient (I've hibernated rainforest species from Costa Rica or Brazil outdoors in the Netherlands before!). But there's no guarantees..
Epiphora lugardi is tricky because there does not seem to be much info about this insect.
Hmm alright. I'll just keep spraying and see how it goes I suppose...
-
You overwintered a semi desert/dried savanna African species at 3.3C?? 🤣 please learn about habitat before you waste your money again…
Members of this forum said that the fridge was fine. I made sure to ask before doing anything of the sort.
Please do not be needlessly rude - it distracts from the real focus of the hobby, which is the insects.
I've not been doing this for many years. I am still figuring things out.
Regards,
Jacob
-
Hello,
I have two freshly hatched Amorpha juglandis caterpillars. I got them from a wild female; she only laid two eggs, as she was very old.
I do not have access to Juglans. What alternate hostplants could I use? Right now I have Carya tomentosa in the container, but I do not know if they will accept that.
Regards,
Jacob
-
Dear fellow breeders,
How do I convince Epiphora lugardi cocoons to hatch? I have been misting them 2 or 3 times a day and they show no signs of hatching.
Does this species need other conditions to hatch? I overwintered them at 3.3C, from January thru April.
Regards,
Jacob
-
I emailed Matthew to see if anyone else has had anything similar happen, but, clearly without a photo, it's just guesswork.
Any luck getting a photo of the mystery moth?
-
Display More
Well.
Something interesting has in fact happened.
I am waiting for the batteries to recharge, and will post a photo, as well as try
an image search.
A mystery moth appeared. Not a Saturniidae. Looks like a big Noctuid, with it's wings folded over the back.
All the cocoons look the same, with minor differences in color.
Very unusual. Did it emerge from one of the "lugardi" cocoons?
Who did you buy the lugardi from?
-
Can anyone provide advice in regards to how I should store Epiphora lugardi cocoons?
Additionally, what foods would be best for the larvae? Is there any sort of artificial diet I could create for them?
Many thanks,
Jacob
-
i i can show you what j do. I honestly believe it helps then emerge and lets me control a bit their development. This way allows you to check their development and they don't have to struggle so much to leave their cocoons. Point a light to their head opening. If they are getting closer to emerging they get much darker. Otherwise the light reflects as reddish
Would it be ideal to do this with all of them? Or will just one out of the batch suffice
-
i agree with Werner but be careful with one thing... if they have started developing and especially if they are already in an advanced state of pupal development they could die if you try to induce diapause. That is my experience with other african species like gynanisa maja and nudaurelia dione at least
How do I tell how far along they are? I generally prefer to not open cocoons, as I have had very poor results with that in the past. I could perhaps just open one?
-
Hello, I am wondering if Epiphora lugardi cocoons can be overwintered? I would like to try breeding them with Hyalophora cecropia, Hyalophora gloveri, and Hyalophora euryalus, but those 3 will only hatch in the spring.
Can anyone offer advice on the overwintering of this species?
Regards,
Jacob
-
Hello, I have had a wildcaught Catocala ultronia female for about a week now. She is well fed and in a well ventilated large cage, and I have not seen her calling for males.
She has yet to lay any eggs, though. I only have experience with acquiring eggs from wild Saturniidae, so any help with this beautiful species would be appreciated.
-
I don't think you can do it because of the nature of the species, yamamai overwinter as ova, opposite of polyphemus.
It would pose a problem with the diapause, if you had polyphemus adults from a second brood, maybe you could get adults at the same time.
It would be interesting, and you'd have an issue with foodplant most likely. Maybe live oak would work. I think you would need polyphemus that are naturally double brooded, but that is something I don't know , maybe you could manipulate their life cycle by rearing them indoors with lights and a longer photo period as summer progressed.
The polyphemus here are double brooded I think.
Not sure though.
I see adults 2 times per year , usually in April or May, and then in August or September
-
I have acquired some Antheraea yammami eggs, and A. polyphemus is native to the area where I live. Is it possible for them to hybridize?
I would like to try it, if it is.
-
Hello, does anyone have any info regarding breeding or laying of Hemaris diffinis? I am encountering them a lot and would love to breed them.
