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Post by Paul K on Jan 22, 2019 5:55:51 GMT -8
My score so far this winter: 1 cecropia. Time spent for searching: approx 20hrs in total.
Now as the temps are well below -10°C I stopped searching.
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Post by eurytides on Jan 22, 2019 11:05:35 GMT -8
For me:
Cecropia - 0 Polyphemus - 0 Luna - 0
I go out when it’s -5 to 5C.
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Post by arizonamother on Jan 27, 2019 10:32:22 GMT -8
I visited a spot on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at about 7400' in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Pima County, Arizona with particularly large Ceanothus fendleri shrubs and a few Cercocarpus that has worked for Hyalophora gloveri cocoon hunting. I haven't been there in 4 years, at least. A couple of associates visited this same spot about two years ago. They did not have a good report.
The first thing I noticed was that many Ceanothus shrubs were broken or flattened down and some were inaccessible because they were covered with banks of snow. This was caused by the action of snow plows.
I got there late in the afternoon. I stepped out of my vehicle at 3:14 PM.
So, I located 23 gloveri cocoons by the time I returned to my vehicle at 5:20 PM. Now hold on, before you get excited! Only two were good. The remainder were rodent bit (10), 11 either were possibly parasitized or emerged normally (difficult to tell since tachinids emerge from the valve as the moths do). Some of these cocoons are definitely multiple years old, too, since they disintegrated with handling.
About 1/3 were on mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus) the other cocoons were on Ceanothus.
I have images of how I found the cocoons and the complete batch, etc that I would like to post here. But I don't see how to do it. Can someone help me with this? (I'm using my phone to post this, maybe I need to get on my laptop?).
Mike (in Tucson)
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Post by arizonamother on Jan 27, 2019 10:45:58 GMT -8
Hyalophora gloveri cocoons from Santa Catalina Mountains, collected Saturday, 26 Jan 2019. Two on far right are good. Middle cocoons breached by rodents. Left: possibly emerged or parasitized (?) from past season(s). Attachments:
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Post by arizonamother on Jan 27, 2019 10:57:39 GMT -8
Post Options Post by arizonamother on less than a minute ago Hyalophora gloveri cocoons from Santa Catalina Mountains, collected Saturday, 26 Jan 2019. Two cocoons in situ, on Cercocarpus twig. Upper is a prior season's and parasitized. Lower is good. Cocoons found on Cercocarpus were all found on or near the plant base (none higher than 28" from the ground). Cercocarpus are tall, 8-14', slender, multistemmed shrubs and cocoons are in, more or less, plain sight. Attachments:
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Post by eurytides on Feb 3, 2019 13:48:30 GMT -8
Alright, after many hours in the cold, finally found a female cecropia cocoon!!! Very happy today.
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Post by eurytides on Feb 4, 2019 5:15:12 GMT -8
Thanks guys. Also, I didn't find this on an isolated tree by the water front or anything. I went back to my old ways of searching along paths in the forest. This was on a small twig (sorry, my winter tree ID skills suck) maybe a foot off the ground, vertically oriented. First live cocoon I've found in 2 winters, and the first female cocoon I've ever found.
I've been doing some reading online about mating behaviour in cecropias and want to try to get some eggs and raise a bunch of caterpillars next year. Not sure how successful I will be. Any advice or anecdotes would be welcome.
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Post by Paul K on Feb 4, 2019 7:06:03 GMT -8
Would you tell apart male/female without opening cocoon?
Your post makes me want to go out, especially with the warmer weather today, but I got this very bad cold/flu and stay home.
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Post by eurytides on Feb 4, 2019 9:31:23 GMT -8
Paul, No I couldn't tell male or female from the outside. Cecropias can make compact or baggy cocoons, so the size doesn't say much. The cocoon felt hefty, but again, not enough for me to say male or female just from the feel. This cocoon was actually noticeably smaller than the cocoon for a male cecropia I found a couple of years ago, and that male had a 15 cm wingspan when spread.
I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well. The weather is supposed to be decent this upcoming weekend. I definitely plan to head out again. It was such a thrill to find the cocoon!
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Post by Paul K on Apr 11, 2019 18:06:15 GMT -8
My score as of now is 2 Cecropia cocoons, I want to take them out of the fridge now, should I just place them in the net basket or do I have to moist them sometimes? They will be inside my apartment.
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Post by eurytides on Apr 12, 2019 10:12:46 GMT -8
So I take it that you want them as specimens, and not for breeding? I don't do anything special with my cocoons after I take them out. Take them out and put them somewhere so that the newly eclosed moth has a place to hang from to expand the wings.
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Post by Paul K on Apr 12, 2019 14:48:03 GMT -8
So I take it that you want them as specimens, and not for breeding? I don't do anything special with my cocoons after I take them out. Take them out and put them somewhere so that the newly eclosed moth has a place to hang from to expand the wings. Right, I’m in one of those new shoe box size style condo, no place for moth farm here for sure. My Lepidoptera collection already is taking large part of the tiny living space. Also those specimens are quite large and they take up a lot of drawer.
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castanea
New Member
Posts: 2
Country: United States
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Post by castanea on May 9, 2019 10:02:18 GMT -8
I am new to this, and enjoy looking for cocoons in winter, but mostly have only found Promethea cocoons. I do love the silk moths; hard not to like such large, showy insects!
Also, I need a bit of help: I am writing an article for the Tennessee Conservationist magazine on 'winter cocoon hunting' and need some photo contributions of any silkmoth cocoons that are found in the southeast during the winter season. It would be best if they were photographed in the tree they were found in.
I write as a volunteer, don't get paid, so cannot pay for the photos, but the photographer will be credited for their work in publication, plus, I'll be sure to send the contributor several free issues with article! I would really appreciate it.
I have been reading the threads on this cocoon forum, and have so many questions. Is there a good way to distinguish a polyphemus cocoon from a promethea cocoon? Are there any good publications out there exclusively on the Saturnidae??
Also, with such a fat abdomen, how do you mount large silkmoths without making a mess or ruining the specimen? Thanks for any help!!
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leptraps
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Posts: 2,397
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Post by leptraps on May 9, 2019 18:32:21 GMT -8
Email me at Leptraps@aol.com. I have photographs of cocoons and nag worms.
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Post by Paul K on May 11, 2019 11:50:57 GMT -8
Today one of my two cocoons of Hyalophora cecropia emerged and it is a female. I wasn’t planning to rear them so it end up being a beautiful fresh specimen, first in my collection.
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