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Post by dertodesking on Oct 6, 2011 11:26:08 GMT -8
Hello all, After years of collecting I've taken the plunge and decided to give rearing a few bugs a go. With that in mind I've got hold of some Copaxa rufa and Actias maenas larvae. I got them when they were first instar and feeding on liquidambar (styraciflua) and I've switched them to eucalyptus (gunnii) which they've taken too no problem. They moulted a couple of times and are now at third instar and doing well. They're in tupperware boxes and I'm providing fresh food daily. My questions are...how long do they have left as caterpillars before pupation? How much longer should I keep them in tupperware before moving to something else? When should I transfer them to a flight/emergence cage? What conditions do I need to provide pre-/during pupation? How long do each species stay in the pupal stage? Any tips/pointers/guidance much appreciated. I've read what I can on the net and some is conflicting so I'd appreciate any tips from the good folks of insectnet!  Thanks in advance, Simon |
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Post by starlightcriminal on Oct 7, 2011 7:11:19 GMT -8
I can't comment on Copaxa specifically, but if you treat them like lunas as seen on the great Bill Oehlke's website you should be just fine except that maenas might not diapause and I would be much more careful about keeping the temps reasonably high. I think maenas is mostly tropical.
When I rear Sats I move them into something else as soon as they are not able to crawl through screening which I use to detain them in their respective containers so the air circulates better. You don't want to see humidity building up on the walls and roof of the tupperware, it will just encourage infection. Also space them out well, just a few per box. I rear in big containers with weed cloth covering the opening (you can trap smaller caterpillars this way compared to a lot of screen, but any breathable material works fine I'm sure) and use these little pint containers that gelatto came in as a resevoir for water to put the cut stems in. I punch a small hole the top and put in the stem of the host and screw the lid back on. Make sure the whole is only big enough for the stems and not for stems+caterpillar or you will soon find all of the caterpillars have drowned themselves. I have no idea why they are so suicidal around water, but they are. Probably Bill can comment further in this regard.
Timing depends on species, temperature, suitable host, etc. Hard to say exactly but I would guess out of the 20 species of Sat or so that I have reared personally it averages about 6 weeks from ova to pupae at about 80 degrees. Some are longer, for me Ceratocampinae are slower. Things raised over cool season also take longer and are often a little bigger for me. On the other hand, I reared on an alternate host plant for one species that wasn't all that happy on it and they went from ova to ova in one month. It would have been impressive but the adults were about half the size of a normal adult. They were really tiny, poor little guys were clearly unhappy with the host. I won't try those again, lol.
Big thing is to space them out well, keep everything immaculate and well circulated. Some people even bleach or acid wash (vinegar dilution) the leaves lightly, rinse and dry them before using to cut down on microscopic pathogens. This would be something to consider if you have something valuable or sensitive. This is standard operating procedure at the Lepidopteran research center here. Considering they are foreign to you, it might be worth it as there could be vectors that are particularly harmful given that they are out of their normal range. Sort of the same idea as when the European conquistadors came to the new world and gave all the natives smallpox.
My best advice is to use Bill's info, I have had great success using it as my model. He has an immeasurable breadth of experience with Sats.
Good luck, love to hear what your results are!
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Post by dertodesking on Oct 7, 2011 11:07:07 GMT -8
Massive, MASSIVE thanks for your advice. As a complete novice to rearing any/all tips are greatly appreciated. I'll let you know how I get on... Thanks again Simon |
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