Cocoons of Callosamia promethea

[leptraps]

I was out yesterday in search of Hibernacula of Astrocampa and Limenitis, especially Limenitis arthemis astyanax. While I did find about 30+ Hibernacula of Limenitis arthemis astyanax . I was surprise when I found a dozen or more cocoons of Callosamia promethea in a small wild cherry tree. That is a first for me in Kentucky and the first cocoons of the year.

I must admit, the cocoons are rather small. I looked in my collection and for cocoons I collected when I lived in north east Ohio. These were about twice the size of the ones I found in Kentucky.

Anybody else been out looking for cocoons?

And I found a boat load of Hibernacula of Asterocampa and Limenitis today. How many survive the winter I do not know. They are in a cage under my deck.

[mothman27]

I haven't seen/found any yet this year. 

[T.C.]

Well, I am jealous. I am having trouble finding caterpillars, cocoons, and moths. I know that sounds crazy, but they are rarer in my area than 3 years ago. They have turned all the fields that were in may area from beautiful meadows to a bunch of darn cornfields for miles. I was pretty sad about the whole deal. Some species I haven't even seen in my area since.

[timmsyrj]

Jan 6, 2017 16:41:00 GMT -8 T.C. said:

Well, I am jealous. I am having trouble finding caterpillars, cocoons, and moths. I know that sounds crazy, but they are rarer in my area than 3 years ago. They have turned all the fields that were in may area from beautiful meadows to a bunch of darn cornfields for miles. I was pretty sad about the whole deal. Some species I haven't even seen in my area since.

You are jealous! I certainly am, over here in the U.K especially in my area I think you would be hard pressed to find anything this time of year, we certainly don't have saturnidae just hanging in a tree or Limenitis to be found like this else I would be out all day every day I wasn't working, the ultimate collecting for mint condition specimens.

At least for a 72 year old (think that's what you said on another thread) there is nothing wrong with your eyesight, very well spotted sir and I wish you all the best in rearing and hatching them.

Rich

[T.C.]

Jan 6, 2017 20:24:19 GMT -8 timmsyrj said:

Jan 6, 2017 16:41:00 GMT -8 T.C. said:

Well, I am jealous. I am having trouble finding caterpillars, cocoons, and moths. I know that sounds crazy, but they are rarer in my area than 3 years ago. They have turned all the fields that were in may area from beautiful meadows to a bunch of darn cornfields for miles. I was pretty sad about the whole deal. Some species I haven't even seen in my area since.

You are jealous! I certainly am, over here in the U.K especially in my area I think you would be hard pressed to find anything this time of year, we certainly don't have saturnidae just hanging in a tree or Limenitis to be found like this else I would be out all day every day I wasn't working, the ultimate collecting for mint condition specimens.

At least for a 72 year old (think that's what you said on another thread) there is nothing wrong with your eyesight, very well spotted sir and I wish you all the best in rearing and hatching them.

Rich

I apologize for the confusion, but in the second paragraph there, are you asking if I am 72 years old?

[timmsyrj]

Sorry for the confusion, Leroy (Leptraps) I believe is 72 not you T.C. Though I have no idea as to your age, I wish you many years of searching for winter cocoons.

Rich

[T.C.]

Jan 7, 2017 3:14:42 GMT -8 timmsyrj said:

Sorry for the confusion, Leroy (Leptraps) I believe is 72 not you T.C. Though I have no idea as to your age, I wish you many years of searching for winter cocoons.

Rich

I thank you for that, and same to you. By the way the name is Tyler. Just figured I would introduce myself and get my name out there.

thanks,
 Tyler

[leptraps]

Now wait one minute, do not rush me into old age, I am only 71. However, I may be getting older, but I have retained my rugged good looks and absolutely all of my charm.

And besides,I can still find cocoons and hibernaculum. I have only found a few H. cecropia and A. polyphemus along with a single Callosamia angulefera. As for hibernaculum, I have found about 40 Limenitis,both archippus and astyanax on Willow and cherry. Lots of Asterocampas.

I found what I thought was a pupae of Graphium marcellus folded up in a leaf on a Paw Paw tree. However, two weeks in my crawl space and out came a "big" parasitic fly. I stuck a pin in it.

There is still a lot of winter left. We have a warm up coming next week and I may run over towards Red River Gorge and look for cocoons of Callosamia angulefera in all those Tulip trees. Besides, I have not stopped at the Waffle House in Moorehead in years.

[timmsyrj]

Ah yes, my apologies Leptraps, just re read the other thread, 72 this coming may, and yes, excellent eyesight to spot hibernaculum.

Rich

[leptraps]

It is currently a balmy 7 degrees in Georgetown, KY. That's colder than Hillary Clinton's heart after she learned she lost to the Donald, and that my friends is cold.

It will be in the mid 60's by Wednesday. I will be traveling to Michigan to meet some friends and go collect some cocoons of Hyalophora Columbia. That will be a first for me. I collected a female Hyalophora columbia off of a wall a church near Paradise Bog in the UP of Michigan 30 years ago and reared a couple dozen, but they were rather small.

Has anyone on this list ever collected H. Columbia cocoons?

[oehlkew]

I rear H. columbia columbia on larch on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada. I have on many occasions looked for Columbia cocoons on the larch trees when they have lost their needles. I have not found any wild columbia cocoons. I have had reports from reliable sources of some columbia cocoons being found in New Brunswick, Canada, still affixed to the natural host (larch).

When I rear this species in sleeves, approximately 90% of the time the larvae spin up affixed longitudinally to the tree trunk or tree branch at the base of the sleeve or sometimes in the sleeve material at the base of the sleeve. This leads me to believe that the larvae in the wild, probably leave the natural host in most cases and spin up in leaf litter near the base of the tree.

I usually rear a couple hundred cocoons of this species every year and have been doing this every year for about the last twenty years, so the observation is not a casual one.
Bill Oehlke

[Deleted]

Out been doing cocoon searching. No promethea, but found four polyphemus......two eclosed, one parasitized, and one alive. I've gone many miles to little avail.....hope my next runs produce more.

[papilio28570]

Easy to find Polyphemus cocoons here in coastal North Carolina. Usually if you find an unexpected number of cocoons on a small tree, chances are they are all parasitized. I once found a small cherry tree, about 4 feet tall with 7 smallish Cecropia cocoons. All were parasitized. I recall reading a similar circumstance in Holland many years ago.

I reared Polyphemus this past season and have about 70 cocoons. I haven't reared them since 1984. I usually rear Luna but a few years back I reared all three Callosamia species several years in a row. I generally release the majority of what I rear.

Io and Cecropia are rare in my area and I have been hoping to rear them for about 30 years now. Every once in a while, I'll find a male specimen at a light but no females thus far.

[leptraps]

After a couple of smart comments from a few of you excellent Lepidopterists via my email, I decided to return to the area where I found all of the Callosamia promethea cocoons. And I am including the location where I found the cocoons and where the pictures of cocoons hanging in trees were taken.

The location:

Kentucky
Woodford County
Junction of Midway Pike, US 62 and I-64 at Exit 65
Industrial Complex North East of Exit 65 of I-64.

I found this locations just after they completed the road system, sewer system and under ground electrical system 2001. It was a 94 acre corn field prior to development. For Sale or Lease signs went up, a small church bought an end lot and built a church and a plastic recycling facility was erected. The latter was a front for an illegal drug operations. Several of their customers were found deceased in vehicles on the dead end roads of the development. I always knew that drugs were a dead end sort of thing. A Woodford Police Station and service facility replaced the drug operation. Then the owner of the development was found shot to death in a motel room near Louisville (Or so the story goes) and he had no will, a couple of ex-wives, children by all of them plus others and into the legal system it went, that was 2002.

I collected Colias eurytheme and Colias philodice for my rearing project as someone harvested the area for hay. I added to the fields plant population with some Alfalfa. It was a great spot. Then it became a dumping area. In the middle of the night piles of old tires, appliances, big TV’s, barrels of who knows what and yard waste along with piles of brush appeared. Then Woodford County gated the site and the only way in was by the Police Station. The cops knew me and gave me access. I could not drive into it, but I could walk.

In 2014 the legal system had the property auctioned off and a new developer went to work. He cleaned up the entire site, tires, TV’s, brush and all. To date a Manufacturing facility has been constructed and is in operation and a major distribution center is under construction and several lots have surveyors stakes and tape. The gates came down last spring and the developer believes by 2020 he will have 80% occupancy.

Prior to the gates going up, I found more condoms hang in trees than cocoons.

I got curious a couple of weeks ago and my wife and I drove around the development to see what was going on when I found some small Willow trees along a drainage ditch with dried leaves attached and found several hibernacula of Limenitis, more than likely, Limenitis archippus (The Viceroy). I collected most of the hibernacula when I noticed a Cherry tree next to a Power Line Utility Box with some dead leaves and I went to investigate and found more hibernacula, I think these are Limenitis arthemis astyanax (Red Spotted Purple). I also found several cocoons of Callosamia promethea. That was a first for me in Kentucky. Although known from the state, it was one I have never encountered. I walked down to the next Utility Box, found more Cherry trees and more Hibernacula and cocoons. My time was up and I had other things to do, I returned home. That resulted in the original post to this topic.

I returned with a camera and time to spare on Friday 13 January 2017. I collected an additional 20+ cocoons of Callosamia promethea, 2 Antheraea polyphemus and what I believe to be Callosamia angulifera that I found on a small Tulip Poplar (I am no tree expert, but it was a poplar). I attempted to take some photographs but the weather sucked. It was a dull gray cloudy drizzly damp day. And photographing cocoons in trees is no easy task, especially when attempting to photograph a tree full of cocoons in the crappy weather.

I also found cocoons and a few hibernacula around the bases of a Electrical Power Stanchion. The briars were thick and getting close took some effort. Add the cold drizzle and damp air made for some miserable conditions,

I have provided the locations, there are plenty of cocoons for the taking, take all you want because I believe in the next year or so it will all be developed.

Utility Enclosure with Cherry tree and cocoons



Cocoon on Tree




Cocoons on tree



Trees with cocoons

Electrical Power Stanchions

[leptraps]

I forgot to include a photograph of the Callosamia promethean cocoons and my lone Callosamia angulifera cocoon I collected during my last visit.

If any of you live close enough to come visit this site, let me know and I will show you how it is done.




Cocoons of Callosamia promethean and a lone Callosamia angulifera (Large gray cocoon in the middle near the bottom).