jwa121
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Post by jwa121 on Mar 24, 2021 9:17:25 GMT -8
Some rearers like to provide their (burrowing) Saturniid caterpillars with a medium (washed sand, for example) in which to pupate. And that's fine. But doing so isn't necessary. Saturniid caterpillars that pupate underground will pupate perfectly in a container containing some torn up, or cut up, damp paper towel. What you must give the larvae (the secret ingredient, so to speak) is total darkness, a complete absence of light. This makes sense biologically since burrowing larvae in Nature will quickly find themselves enveloped in darkness.
The tricky part for the rearer can be coming up with enough pupating containers, since each larva must have its own container. A handy solution (if you drink takeout coffee) is saving your empty takeout coffee cups and lids. I reared a Citheronia and an Eacles (both tropical) last year and both groups of caterpillars pupated in takeout paper coffee cups that I had saved up over a period of time. This method allows you to look at the pre-pupal larvae periodically and be an observer of the process of pupation.
From using this method, and checking on pupating larvae during the week or so it typically takes most of them to pupate, I observed something I found interesting. Saturniid caterpillars ready to pupate will often change colour or at least darken. This colour change, it turns out, isn't necessarily permanent. It can be temporary. I hadn't realized that.
I reared a couple of species of (burrowing) African Saturniids whose green caterpillars, when ready to pupate, turned brown. (Turning brown would seem to be advantageous if you're a green caterpillar about to leave your leafy green tree to crawl about on the ground looking for a place to burrow.) But, after being in total darkness for between 24 and 48 hours, these brown pre-pupal caterpillars changed colour again and reverted to the same green they had been when still feeding. The caterpillars went on to successfully pupate as green, not brown, caterpillars.
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Mar 19, 2021 11:34:31 GMT -8
From among a group of, say, fifteen or twenty Saturniid caterpillars of a given species reared in captivity it will sometimes happen that one of the resultant moths will mysteriously fail to even begin expanding its wings. It certainly happens. And it happens with both inbred and wild stock. Whether, or how often, this happens in Nature is probably unknowable given that the evidence is hidden from us.
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jwa121
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Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Mar 2, 2021 11:44:49 GMT -8
The difficulty of establishing a reproducing population of Argema mimosae, Argema mittrei, or Attacus atlas anywhere in the United States would be on par with establishing a reproducing herd of African giraffes in Canada's high Arctic.
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jwa121
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Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Feb 21, 2021 13:02:59 GMT -8
It is not Rothschildia erycina. I just finished rearing caterpillars of Rothschildia erycina and am now waiting for the moths to emerge from their cocoons. Your moth is a male Rothschildia jacobaeae.
I rear tropical Saturniid moths. Please send me a private message and we can discuss.
Thanks!
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Feb 14, 2021 12:27:46 GMT -8
While we're on the subject, I just have to put a plug in here for the late Rudolf E. J. Lampe's superb book SATURNIIDAE of the World: Their Life Stages from the Eggs to the Adults. What a book! I bought my copy from Pemberley Books in the UK.
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Feb 14, 2021 10:47:23 GMT -8
I have that same copy of Moths And How To Rear Them by Paul Villiard. And yes, my copy still has the original yellow dust jacket.
I have another interesting book. It's a paperback. It's called A Silkmoth Rearer's Handbook by W. J. B. Crotch. It was published by The Amateur Entomologists' Society in 1956. It's a British publication. It's a wonderful little time capsule.
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Feb 13, 2021 21:04:33 GMT -8
I rear Saturniid moths. I once reared 4 caterpillars of the South American Saturniid, Automeris egeus. I fed the larvae the leaves of Beech (Fagus).
Because of the caterpillars' large size (among the longest Saturniid caterpillars I've reared), and because of their reddish-brown body colour (with white racing stripe) and bushy, stinging spines, my egeus caterpillars had a real "presence." Like that of a small mammal, albeit a silent, inactive one. I approached with extreme caution. Thankfully, I was stung only once. The 4 larvae produced 4 perfect specimens, all female.
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Dec 14, 2018 0:18:28 GMT -8
I e-mailed the enterprising Aaliyah Diakhite. Aaliyah got right to the point: money. Aaliyah wanted me to immediately send money by Western Union. It's "very easy and fast," Aaliyah assured me. When I suggested to Aaliyah that Aaliyah's offer of Rothschildia cocoons wasn't genuine, Aaliyah replied that all the cocoons had been bought by "a buyer from France." I'm surprised to see Aaliyah's ad still up and running given that all the cocoons have apparently all been bought by "a buyer from France."
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on May 13, 2018 16:43:36 GMT -8
Hi Philippe,
Thanks for your post. I'm interested in African Saturniidae and would be interested in knowing more information about your "hunter."
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Mar 29, 2018 5:54:14 GMT -8
Hi. I would be interested in a few eggs. Is there some way I could privately message you?
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Jan 18, 2018 17:50:19 GMT -8
Well, if you plan to eventually put the chilled cocoon outdoors, there are some things to consider.
You'll want to put the cocoon somewhere where it won't be spotted by a predator (a bird, for example), and where it will be protected from the direct rays of the sun, to avoid overheating. And the cocoon needs to be attached to something so that the emerging moth can successfully pull out and away from the cocoon and have something to cling to, and hang from, so that its wings can properly expand.
To improve the odds of having the moth successfully eclose, you may wish to let it do so indoors.
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jwa121
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Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Jan 18, 2018 10:53:40 GMT -8
Hi whitewolf,
If we assume that the pupa inside the cocoon is still alive, then I would recommend putting your cocoon in a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting, screw-on lid. Put a few drops of water on a piece of paper towel and put that in the jar just behind the lid, to provide the pupa with some necessary humidity. Screw the lid on tight and put the jar in the bottom of your kitchen fridge. I would recommend refrigerating the pupa for a minimum of six weeks (to break diapause).
John
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jwa121
Junior Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jwa121 on Dec 2, 2017 11:45:41 GMT -8
How about Antherina? (after Antherina suraka).
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