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Post by papilio28570 on Dec 17, 2018 23:34:05 GMT -8
I can understand wanting cocoons and I too would like some; but, I find it much more enjoyable to actually get out there and try to find them. I consider it a learning process and part and parcel of the hobby. It is surprising what you will learn about the natural habitat around you. I have been looking for Cecropia for years, actually decades here, in eastern North Carolina. I have only seen the moth twice and found a viable cocoon once. I found 6 parcitized cocoons on a small black cherry once that was no more that 4 feet high. I enjoy the challenge.
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Post by papilio28570 on Dec 14, 2018 22:15:30 GMT -8
WOW!! Disturbing news. I didn't know he was ailing or had health issues. So sad, especially for his family at this time of year. So sad.
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Post by papilio28570 on Nov 13, 2018 21:05:11 GMT -8
I use curly leaf and flat leaf (Italian) parsley. Flat leaf parsley grows much larger and faster than curly leaf. Seed for both types is readily available at any garden center. I plant dozens of parsley in my landscape and also makes a beautiful bright green winter border plant which explodes with growth as winter ends. The swallowtails readily visit my yard and deposit more eggs than I can count. They will quickly chew the plants down to nubs if you do not eliminate some of the eggs before they hatch or when the larvae are very young. Leave one caterpillar per plant. I have one 16 ft wide circular border around a flowering pear tree in my back yard and plant 72 parsley plants around the border each fall. In very early spring or late winter, you need to plant a second crop to replace the plants that over-wintered since they will be spent by early summer. This will ensure a food source for the next generation. Plant a third crop in late summer to have plants that will over-winter. During the winter, drench the growing area with a fungicide and insecticide mixture to control disease and parasites. Greatest problem during the warm season is controlling wasps which will quickly eliminate your caterpillars. The wasps even chew through netting. I move nearly grown larvae to potted plants in metal screened rearing cages that are in dappled shade where they soon pupate.
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Post by papilio28570 on Nov 2, 2018 20:25:44 GMT -8
Metabolism didn't speed up. It simply dehydrated from lack of food and low indoor humidity due to heating or cooling system.
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Post by papilio28570 on Oct 20, 2018 21:57:03 GMT -8
His listings now read: I can't ship in USA, CANADA, CENTRAL-SOUTH AMERCA and JAPAN. (I hope to be able to ship in a very short time) I ship only in EUROPE, ASIA and CHINA. I only send the first day of the month, it's therefore strictly necessary to accumulate more orders. If I do not receive any warning to continue to accumulate, I will ship automatically.
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Post by papilio28570 on Oct 5, 2018 20:38:37 GMT -8
I think you realize that you are a lucky man.
Lifelong marriage is becoming more rare here in the USA. The few married couples that I know who are still married after 50 or 60+ years struggle to find tranquility in their relationship. The love seems to be gone, but the commitment remains...a partnership in building the same wall between them.
I'm in my third marriage which has survived 34 years so far. The first two marriages couldn't withstand the pressures of a military career.
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Post by papilio28570 on Oct 5, 2018 13:11:36 GMT -8
I assume Ms Betty was not your previous neighbor....you didn't specify
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Post by papilio28570 on Oct 4, 2018 22:10:13 GMT -8
True story:
In 1971 I was attacked by two women in their early 20s. I was living with them in a trailer park in Florida. They were the wife and a sister of a friend who was hospitalized for several months. They snuck into my bedroom one night, yanked back the covers and began to pull my pajama bottoms off. I fought desperately to keep my pajama bottoms on. They were laughing uncontrollably.
I too was in my early 20s and laughing my ass off. Eventually, not wanting to rip my pajama bottoms, I finally relented and they succeeded in stripping them off me. I wondered what would happen next....
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 31, 2018 16:36:14 GMT -8
Surprised this thread did't get more replies.
How many here actually rear local species?
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 31, 2018 16:33:55 GMT -8
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 29, 2018 13:27:11 GMT -8
Papilio chikae is a CITES listed species
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 26, 2018 21:27:38 GMT -8
you need to put an ad in the classifieds. I'm sure lots of folks come here only to see who has stuff to sell or buy or trade in the classifieds and are not interested in the forums.
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 25, 2018 12:44:08 GMT -8
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 24, 2018 21:06:20 GMT -8
Having reared cats for 40+ years, here is my advice:
If using potted plants, do a soil drench with hydrogen peroxide (ONE CUP added to One Gallon of water) to kill soil pathogens. If the plant is dormant for the winter, thoroughly spray the stems of the plant. The peroxide will also add needed oxygen to the soil and won't harm the plant.
If using cuttings to feed your cats, mix a 5% to 10% solution of bleach and water. Dip the cutting for about 30 seconds and then rinse thoroughly with fresh water. Shake excess water off and the cats do not mind that the leaves are wet...which will soon dry plus the leaves will absorb some of the moisture. Do not use collected rain water.
If using sleeves on plants outside, be sure that your sleeves were soaked in the bleach solution and thoroughly rinsed and dried before use each time. You can also spray the plants with the bleach solution and rinse immediately. Saturate the ground around the plants you use each year with the peroxide solution. Do this preferably before new leaves emerge each spring. Spray the whole area down with a fungicide after you rake up the leaves beneath the plants in the fall of the year. I use a wide spectrum fungicide you can purchase at any garden center which you simply hook the bottle up to your hose. I also save the bottle and fill it with bleach to spray large bushes or trees. You can do the same with hydrogen peroxide since the bottle mixes the contents with water as it is ejected. Be sure the bottle label instructs to use on 5000 to 8000 square feet and that the bottle has a built-in spray nozzle. This will properly proportion the chemical to a 5% to 10% range.
If using cages for rearing, they must be thoroughly disinfected before use with each successive brood of cats.
All of this will not guarantee 100% success, since many pathogens are dispersed on the wind, but it will greatly improve your odds year over year.
Any sick cats need to be disposed of at first signs of illness as many cat diseases are highly contagious and will leave a pathogen trail wherever they roam on the plant or enclosure. Isolate that enclosure away from all other enclosures right away.
Of great importance is that you wash your hands in peroxide or bleach solution and rinse every time before interacting with your cats or their enclosures. Keep a spray bottle near your rearing area for this.
I also noticed that you rear indoors and have this black death problem. Hate to tell you but you have to disinfect the whole room, walls, floor, door knobs and all.
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 24, 2018 20:00:52 GMT -8
Get out into the rural areas. Highway traffic near urban areas kills off local leps. Palemedes prefers moist woodland borders where Red Bay grows. Cresphontes is quite common around citrus orchards. Pick up a few hanging baskets of lantana at any garden shop and set them out to attract specimens once you have found n area where they are seen. Patience, patience....
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