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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2017 18:32:48 GMT -8
I usually don't spend much on US material figuring I'll eventually get a particular moth, but in 50 years of collecting A. polyphemus, I've never seen any like the oddball in the pics.   |
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Post by oehlkew on Jan 10, 2017 8:29:31 GMT -8
Hi Bill,
Could you take the melanic polyphemus out of the box and photograph it by itself. I would love to display it on WLSS. I have seen some melanic forms before, but never one so evenly dark. I was successful one year in getting a somewhat melanic male, hatched from one of my cocoons, to pair with one of my reared females of normal colouration. I hoped to inbreed the offspring to see if I could start a melanic strain. Unfortunately that was one summer when we had a severe hurricane that tore up many of my sleeves in September. What the storm didn't destroy, the birds must have eaten, because I could not find a single larva in the sleeves once the storm had abated. I believe
you can create a melanic strain that will breed true for a couple of generations. Robert Mueller of Connecticut once showed me a series of melanic Anisota that he had reared for several generations in Connecticut.
Bill Oehlke
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 9:10:22 GMT -8
Ok...here u go Bill. Remember, I merely bought this....wish I caught or reared it. I did repair two spots ( a hole and a large split ) that were damaged. The data label said.......Charles Co., Maryland, June 2014. Its wingspan is 116mm. Of course you may use the photo as per requested.  |
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Post by nomad on Jan 10, 2017 10:29:30 GMT -8
Very nice aberration.  |
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Post by oehlkew on Jan 10, 2017 17:47:33 GMT -8
Thanks for image, Bill.
I will upload it to the membership site tomorrow.
Bill Oehlke
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Post by beetlehorn on Jan 11, 2017 20:23:23 GMT -8
Very nice Bill. I wonder what would cause this kind of melanism in a Saturnid moth. I have heard that cooler than normal temps sometimes brings this coloration out in certain species of butterflies. I also like the really red specimen in your collection. That is one of the joys of having a series of specimens. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by johnnyboy on Jan 12, 2017 0:20:32 GMT -8
Superb addition to your collection, you must have been super excited when you first saw it.
Johnny
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2017 7:18:22 GMT -8
Johnyboy,
Yep I was. Had to wait a bit (nervously) until the price came down some. Being that Automeris and Antheraea r my two favorite genera, it was kind of....a must have. Would rather still have caught it myself or reared it myself....if u know what I mean?
I, too, love the variations evident in a series Tom.
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Post by joee30 on Jan 12, 2017 11:45:40 GMT -8
Nice find Bill!!! Polyphemus is not too far away in California. Wonder if an eastern female would attract western males though?
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Post by appybugs on Jan 14, 2017 12:08:47 GMT -8
Wow Bill! Very Nice.
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Post by papilio28570 on Jan 4, 2018 8:35:06 GMT -8
radusho...very nice images and good work with breeding
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Post by T.C. on Jan 4, 2018 10:58:55 GMT -8
Very Impressive Bill Garthe.
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