Need help breeding of Hemihyalea edwardsii and H. splendens.

[nomihoudai]

Hi, a friend of mine was in August in Arizona and collected eggs of Hemihyalea edwardsii and H. splendens. He has trouble breeeding them now, and we would be glad if anybody here has some experience with them or can help. He is feeding them with oak leaves, but they are not really growing well. He has 3 questions:

1) Will they hibernate as a pupa or hibernate at all? Will the adult moth hatch right away or will they wait until next year?
2) Is it possible that the caterpillars hibernate? Currently they are not growing well and not eating much.
3) Does anybody know if they eat artificial food, if yes, which?

Thank you for any help.

[evra]

I think they overwinter as a larva. I've never tried to rear one because the adults of all 4 species are common and come to lights. I have seen mature edwardsii larvae in oak trees in June. I bet they overwinter in the first or second instar, which would make them tricky to rear.

[diddy]

Hi Claude,

I think I have also H. edwarsii from your friend.
I fed them with oak and they pupate all the last 2 weeks.
I don´t know what will happen with the pupae now. I keep them indoor and hope they will hatch soon.

Regards
Dietmar

[diddy]

Hi, it´s me again,
today hatched the first female of H. edwarsii.
She hatched from the first pupae from beginnig November, means about 5 weeks as pupae.
I hope the rest will hatch this year. I will inform you.
Kind regards
Dietmar

[nomihoudai]

Hello everybody, thanks for the informations! Yes it seems like there is more generations, or that they can be hatched earlier in captivity. In the meantime my friend (Rudi) also told me that he had one caterpillar pupating. Thanks.