arctia caja advice

[mercuryvapor]

I finally found some arctia caja utahensis caterpillars earlier this month. They pupated about 13 days ago. I really want to get a pairing and rear this species. I have very little experience rearing arctiids but lots of experience with saturnidae. I don't want to mess this up so I am looking for some advice.

When should I expect them to eclose? I am assuming within the next few days. What time of day should I expect them to eclose? If I take a female back to the area I found her should I expect her to call in a wild male? Does this species feed as an adult? If so, is feeding necessary or desirable? Once bred will the female automatically lay all of her eggs without special treatment?

Thanks in advance for any tips. I will have more questions later if I get a pairing.

[Ascalaphus]

I have some experience with rearing arctia caja from Europe. The adults eclose after 2 to 3 weeks, from my experience this usually happens between 10 am and 3 pm. The adults don't feed. Just put them together in a flight cage and in 1 or 2 nights they'll mate. At the time, I didn't take my flight cage outside, but this didn't cause any problems. If you have a female, it should be possible to attract wild males as well. The eggs are laid in a period of 2-4 days after mating. Good luck!

Regards, Klaas

[mercuryvapor]

That sounds encouraging. Thank you so much. I'll post what happens.

[mercuryvapor]

Well I had three pop out, two females and one male. The first was a female on July 31st. I took her out that night to try to attaract a male. No luck. The next day on August 1st a male emerged. I took them both out and kept them in separate cages still trying to attract a wild male. No luck by 12:30 a. m. so I put them together and they mated within an hour. She has deposited a large number of eggs.

On August 2nd another female emerged. I only have one more pupa and I don't think it is alive. I need to get a wild male for her to mate with. I took her out the first night and just left her in a closed cage all night. I checked early in the morning hoping there would be some males around. There were none. I took her out again last night and stayed until 1:15 a.m. There were no males attracted to her.

I've been taking them to the same area where I found the caterpillars. I've also been setting up a MV light in the area but about a half mile away. No arctia caja have come to the MV light.

I'm wondering if the flight is occurring but I'm missing it because it's even later than 1:00 a.m. I really would like to get a mate for this female also. If any of you have any advice I would love to hear it. I can find very little information about flight habits and nothing specific.

Also how long do I have before the eggs start hatching?

[mercuryvapor]

Here's a picture of the male.

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[obewan]

Any chance you would part with some ova?
obe

[papilio28570]

Put the male in with the second female if you still have him.

[Ascalaphus]

Aug 4, 2011 21:45:00 GMT -8 papilio28570 said:

Put the male in with the second female if you still have him.

You're right, males can mate with at least 3 females. Using UV-light, I have never attracted Arctia caja before 01:00 am. They become active really late! The eggs should hatch in 2 weeks or so... Good luck!

[mercuryvapor]

Thanks for the help. It's too late for the male. He's on the board already. I thought second pairings from one male were somewhat iffy. Next time I won't hesitate.

I'll probably make one more try for a wild male tonight. It's Friday night so I've got time to go up on the mountain and camp out. Hopefully it won't rain like it has every night for the last week.

The first female has dropped a full load and I pinned her out this morning. Here is a picture.

I don't think I want to part with any of the ova. I hope to rear a bunch and I expect heavy losses over the winter. If I can get a second pairing I may put some ova up for sale.

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[Ascalaphus]

If you keep some of the larvae at temperatures above 25 degrees, then these will produce a second generation in autumn. Hibernation is not essential for the larvae. During the winter, cabbage is the best foodplant.

[mercuryvapor]

Success! I spent the night on the mountain at 9000'. I had nine males come in to the MV and UV lights. The first was at 1:30 a.m. and the last was at 3:00 a.m. I went again last night and got four more males between 1:15 and 2:30.

Should I expect females at the same time? Are they less common at the lights?

[mercuryvapor]

Picture

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[mercuryvapor]

I reared some and now have the second generation laying ova. I will sell some ova if anyone is interested. Please see my ad in the classifieds.