Posts by SANPHILEP

    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

    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


    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 Friends


    I have obtained eggs (in three seperate stages) from a wild collected A.atropos since the first week of October.


    The first batch consisted of around 25eggs hatched and I have larvae feeding well.


    At first feeding the moth with honey solution was resisted resulting in no feeding at all.


    A second batch of eggs was laid but these where infertile.


    Feeding was accepted on the sixt day.


    Having it revive and sleeved over lantana camara it has started laying eggs(which I was in dought if they will hatch).This third batch is hatching and larvae are feeding.


    In the past years I have experianced A.atropos pairing more than once during their life time but can not explain the infertile eggs laid (as second batch)


    Did any one have same experiance and how can this happen?


    Regards