Hi everyone,
A few days ago my A. europaea pupae hatched, of 22 pupae 19 hatched after overwintering only once.
On the first night many females copulated. The next morning, after a mating of 12 hours, some pairs
separated. Other pairs remained in copula until the evening. I am aware that it is normal for the females
in this species to mate more than once, the females that mated for only 12 hours indeed mated again last night.
The females that mated for 24 hours, stopped 'calling' for males. However, most of these females laid no eggs.
Only one female did so, but no more than 20. For egg-laying I kept the females in small cages with Fraxinus twigs.
Did I do something wrong? Or is it normal that females don't lay most of their eggs during the first night after mating?
Would Ligustrum twigs give better results? I very much hope that someone can help me!
Regards, Klaas