Posts by SANPHILEP

Hi

I read somewhere it feeds on pistacha terebintifolius Mexican pepper tree.

Regards

Aldo

I have this reared this black Papilio machaoan melitensis larvae from a small brood of wild-collected eggs deposited in my garden.

Anyone has reared or saw such melanism in the European machaon.

Thanks

Dear Jurgen
Are you interested in aristolochia from Malta that is very rare?
regards
Aldo

I have this cydia that emerged from acorns of Quercus ilex. They are 2 males.
It is new to me and probably also to Malta.
Any help will be accredited.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Alex Go to :

HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum

Here you will find all lis of plants and trees for your larvae.

Regards

Aldo

I would welcome any help and advice to rear the only two eggs that hatched of Extatosoma tiaratum.
I got these from maxi my friend but apparently he is busy studying as he did not reply to my mail.
I am feeding the two nynphs on rubus and they did not yet accept eucalyptus.Maybe it is not their favourite.
Thanks to those that will reply.
Aldo

Dear Dieter
I have had some christophi pupae and tried breeding these.
I did not have any problems as regards the pupae storage and I just kept them in moss and sprayed with water every 3 days.
Not all the pupae hatched and this is probably attributed to the hot Maltese climate.
It is good to note but that the moths hatched simultaneously and males before the females. Pairing was easy and immediately the first night the females hatched. Pairings where witnessed and pictures taken.
Eggs where also laid without problems on the netting of the cage.
I was able to trade some of the eggs but all who received the eggs said they had no hatching!!
I have kept a sample of the eggs from two paired witnessed females. A total of 50 eggs where kept in small plastic containers on tissue paper.
The developing larvae could be seen in the eggs after a few days. Some had shrunken without any development.
From the good looking eggs only a few larvae hatched and these died in a few hours. They had started to feed on salix but for some reason died.
I can not explain this and am still worried I did something wrong.
Things I may have done wrong would be as listed:
1:food plant is rare here and was cut from a roadside and washed with tap water that is chlorinated
2:temperature was warm and dry.
3:larvae where kept in small container more than ten in a small box.
4:had no choice of food plant.
I hope that this is beneficial information to you and you will be successful in breeding and rearing this species.
Best regards
Aldo

This is one of many hippotion celerio that emerged. This lacks the silver stripes on forewings.
Are there any previous records of this occurrence?
Aldo

Hi Luke
Very interesting butterfly.
Some years ago a friend of mine from malta caught an A.rapae black as the one you collected.
It seems to be an extreemly rare coincidence that this happens.
I will try to get a picture of it for comparison.
Once again a great discovery.
Aldo

Dear Elfin
Acherontia is difficult to know if mated or not.I would take the advice of putting a male if one comes available.
You can watch if the moth calls for a mate.Generally a mated female will even mate a second or third time if a male is available.
It is a matter of patience and if you provide foodplant a mated female will lay eggs without problems.
Still egg laying is spread on several days so feed the moth until a male is in hand.
if a male is avalable preserve the male after pairing and release it again with the female after a few days of egg laying.Acherontia will live long enough if fed.
Regards
Aldo

Dear Friends
My cucullia eggs are hatching.
Tiny larvae and have transfered them on Verbascum sinuatum.
Hope they start feeding.
Regards
Aldo

Dear friends.
I have collected this specimen of cucullia from Malta Zebbug on the 3rd of February and it laid eggs.
The possiblity of identification would be greatful.Cucullia in Malta are very rare especially verbasci.This species was recorded in march so it may be that it is the one.The other rare species is C.lychnitis but it flies in May and weather in January this year was wet and cold so the possiblity of this is very remote.
Any advice regarding identification and rearing on different plants or artificial diet please.
Thanks in advance.
Aldo

Hi

I will be travelling for a week with my family in Germany mainly Schwendi area and lake Constans.

I plan to see historical places and lego land.

Any suggestions regarding good lepidoptera sites?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Aldo

Hi

These are Hyles livornica from my wild collected female specimens.

These are still small as I have posted the early laid eggs.

I shall have pupa later on this month.

Best of luch to all.

Aldo

Hi

I am rearing a few larvae of Attacus caesar and this is my first experiance.

I have some questions to ask maybe someone can help please.

Is it important to keep the larvae in closed containers to retain humidity?

Does the light duration play a role in the fertility of the adults?

Do I need to give them a mixture of food plant?

Is it ok if I keep the larvae together?

Whast is the ideal size of the breeding container/s?

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Aldo

HI

Has any one travelled to crete and what is the best time to go for butterflies?

Regards