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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 23, 2012 7:42:44 GMT -8
Here is an individual caterpillar that I cropped out of the previous photo before resizing for the forum. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 23, 2012 7:41:27 GMT -8
I got home from work this morning and noticed that the leaves had been stripped from what I believe to be a pecan sapling by my porch that I had neglected to cut down. Upon inspection I discovered that all the remaining limbs with leaves had masses of caterpillars on them. Any ideas on just who these fellows are? Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 21, 2012 16:34:37 GMT -8
I have pinned katydids before with no problems, so I don't think degutting would be needed. The bright green wings turned a bit brown though. It seems that even in death they mimic leaves, green when alive, brown when dead.
I am interested in the degutting procedure though. I have a hickory horned devil in the freezer that made it to a pretty good size and died.
This post would probably be better off in "Open Topics" btw.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 19, 2012 9:21:17 GMT -8
I found this little guy on the ground sheet at my mh bulb last night. It measures in at 33mm. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 16, 2012 22:28:09 GMT -8
Here is the individual caterpillar that I pulled out for the shot. It is approximately 23mm long. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 16, 2012 22:05:04 GMT -8
I figured that I would give an update on the eggs that were laid. They hatched and I wound up with a whole lot of caterpillars. I pulled them out of their container and put them in a smaller one while I cleaned out the one I keep them in. While they were bunched up together I snapped a quick shot. When I get them back in their main container, I will pull one out and try to get an individual shot. Attachments:
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 15, 2012 20:11:40 GMT -8
I just caught another male with quite a bit of yellow on it. He was too tattered to keep as a specimen so I put him in with a female that I caught a few days ago. When I caught her, she looked as though she had just emerged and I thought I was going to get some eggs out of her, but this is the third night and no eggs. I think that there is the possibility that she was disturbed from her spot before she had a chance to mate. I have never tried to pair lunas (or any moth for that matter) so I am not sure what to do just yet. I do know that if she hasn't mated yet, she may be out of pheromones after such a length of time and may start laying unfertilized eggs. It is a long shot for me, and not just because of the low chance of getting a pairing. I am still trying to get the hang of raising eggs from wild caught moths and I really am not quite ready for selective breeding yet.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 14, 2012 14:58:12 GMT -8
The thought of trying to do some selective breeding did occur to me, but I just recently started trying to raise caterpillars and am still quite a novice. If I can get all the kinks worked out, I may attempt some selective breeding to try to get some different colors.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 13, 2012 2:54:41 GMT -8
I am already there. I cannot afford any kind of holiday, but with no family to worry about, I can collect all I want around here without hindrance. As far as that pain in my guts, I realized that one a while back and now have a net that stays in my car at all times along with envelopes and various containers. Everywhere I go I am on the lookout for that next specimen.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 12, 2012 17:07:39 GMT -8
It seems that every time I fall asleep and dream, no matter the subject of the dream, somewhere in it I stop and collect some of the most fascinating insects. Even when I was trying to escape the contamination zone when I watched a nuclear helicopter crash at a stunt show, I stopped to collect some big moths off of a hedge bush. No matter the subject of the dream, I find myself excited by the catch of a lifetime and have to stop whatever I am doing to make sure the insects do not get away. When I awaken, I do not find myself reflecting on the main subject matter of the dreams, but rather I wake up with a feeling of disappointment that the insects I collected were not really in my grasp.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 10, 2012 21:40:00 GMT -8
I am sure most of you have seen this plenty of times, but this is the most lunas I have ever seen at one time. I only collected one though, the luna that is almost yellow. I have plenty of them and don't usually collect spares, but I have never seen one that color before so I decided to take it since it is in pretty good shape. I was hoping to get a female to get a few more eggs from, but they are all male. I have a batch of luna caterpillars right now, but when they reach adulthood, I would like another batch from another moth to pair them with. Attachments:
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moth?
Aug 7, 2012 18:41:02 GMT -8
Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 7, 2012 18:41:02 GMT -8
Looks to me like the Ailanthus Webworm Moth - Atteva aurea. Don't feel bad about the mounting job. I gave up on mounting moths that small long ago.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 7, 2012 14:28:19 GMT -8
The fact that I am running them both simultaneously eliminates the need to randomly swap them. This means that they both get the same weather and moon conditions. Also, since I am comparing in ratios and not the base numbers, the variation in season between the first data set and the second gathered after the swap will not be an issue.
I realize that this isn't the perfect "scientific" test, but it should be accurate enough to give a good idea of the performance these lights have.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 6, 2012 21:44:26 GMT -8
It has been a few days since I set up the 100w metal halide bulb and at this point I am noticing a trend. I figured that I would put my observations here for future reference for those considering their lighting options.
Since I have both the mh bulb and the self ballasted 160w mv bulb, I decided that I would run two lightsheets on different parts of my property. So far the trend is that the mh is far out performing the mv. I am consistently seeing many more big moths at the mh than the mv. Other insects are showing in greater numbers as well. It is still too early to draw any solid conclusions and I still need to eliminate a couple of variables in order to make this a truly scientific test.
Starting tonight, I am going to start making a log of all the Saturniidae moths and other interesting insects at each light. After I have gathered enough data, I will eliminate the variable of location by swapping the two setups and gather another data set. I will then compare the two data sets and eliminate any insects that prove to be location specific. I should then be able to calculate the ratios and have a solid number to represent how much better one light performs than the other.
I am pretty sure how it will turn out, but I am doing this more for fun than the knowledge and who knows, maybe the results will surprise me.
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Post by Rev. Redmond Farrier on Aug 6, 2012 9:32:42 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about your lack of success. I have been struggling to collect around here too, though for pretty much the opposite reason. I keep reading about how so much of the US is in a horrible drought, but around here it has been a soggy mess. It rains four or five nights a week. Usually, this time of year we have triple digit temps on a regular basis and rain showers are few and far between, but this has been the mildest and wettest summer that I can remember. Last night and today actually feel more like fall than summer. I keep the light on, but not much comes out unless there has been no rain for at least 6 hours or so and all this rain seems to come in the late evening or early night.
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