leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 12, 2018 18:36:09 GMT -8
I am a person of opportunity. The only reason I find cocoons, I am always looking. I really have no need to collect them.
Anymore I am also looking for hibernacula in the winter. I walk fence lines in farmers fields and in many rural locations. Along with hibernacula, I find cocoons, mostly Promethea and occasionally an Angulifera or two.
Most of the cocoons I find and collect I usually give them away.
The hibernacula are for Asterocampa, Limenitis and moths. Most of the moths are Micro's and occasionally a noctuid or Erebedia. I just like to get out and get among them!!
And besides, I am retired. After a hard day in the field, I come home to Mommas Chicken and dumplings, Corn Bread and sweet cream butter. And after a nice lunch, a little nap with Momma and the Kitties.
Did I mention I am retired?
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Post by LEPMAN on Dec 12, 2018 20:34:15 GMT -8
Most of the cocoons I find and collect I usually give them away. I think you have at least 2 people who would love some cocoons! |
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 13, 2018 6:41:46 GMT -8
I think I should visit Kingston soon  Eury is in Kingston? Didn't catch that before. Gorgeous city, absolutely wonderful and so much to do with the waterfront, Thousand Islands, and incredible history. I find that the suburbs and parks are often better places to look for cocoons than "the great outdoors". Behind my home the moths have a selection of about 50,000 trees. In my observation, cecropia may actually be more common in suburbs (and even cities) than in rural areas (just like deer). A public park with five maple trees is more likely to result in cocoon finds than searching the Adirondak Park. Promethea seem to frequent lower (younger) trees along the wood line, making them pretty easy to find. Typically if you find one, you'll find more. Maybe there are a bunch up in the Tulip Tree, but I'm not climbing a 80' tree to find out. I also, by nature, keep an eye out around building that are set in secondary growth and field areas. It's very common to find papilio pupae under eves. P. glaucus seems to be very happy to pupate on the side of buildings, along with some nymphalids. One friend's brick home was loaded with Speyeria pupae under the window overhangs, behind the arbor vitae. Interesting, because the field was a good 100meters away, almost like the larvae bee-lined to the house like salmon to a river. Chuck |
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 13, 2018 7:29:49 GMT -8
At one time I gave them away freely. Whoever emailed me, usually received some cocoons. A young man not too far from where I lived ask me to take him cocoon collecting. We spent an entire day collecting cocoons. He went home with 50+ promethea, 25+ Polyphemus and 30+ Cecropia.
Several days later I visited the buy/sell section of Insectnet. I became a little upset when I found a "For Sale" with his name and he was selling the cocoons we collected. I had a few unpleasant words with him and I never taken him collecting anywhere again.
So here's the deal. I will collect whatever cocoons I can find of Cecropia, Polyphemus and Promethia over the next month or so. They will be free. Tell me what species you would like. I will attempt to collect 6 or 8 of each species on a first come first serve basis.
If you keep the cocoons out of doors until spring, when the females emerge cage them and let them call males.
I had a friend in Cleveland, Ohio who lived in a high rise apartment on the 15 or 16 floor. He had female Cecropia's and males came calling.
Post your request here on Insectnet. I will not respond to emails. Again post here in Insectnet, first come first served.
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Post by mothman27 on Dec 13, 2018 12:38:06 GMT -8
If you are willing, I would love to have some of any of the species mentioned, Callosamia angulifera and promethea if possible. I don't have many cocoons of these species to raise next year. If not that's fine too. As mentioned previously, I wouldn't consider any satuniidae "common" around here.
Thanks,
Tim
P.S. Do you guys find E. imperialis often? Being my favorite moth around here I am always looking for them but I only seem to find one adult every couple years. I did find a caterpillar this year and it is now overwintering as a pupae. Hopefully it will make it till spring. Does anyone have a high viability method for overwintering naked pupae?
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Post by LEPMAN on Dec 13, 2018 14:21:06 GMT -8
At one time I gave them away freely. Whoever emailed me, usually received some cocoons. A young man not too far from where I lived ask me to take him cocoon collecting. We spent an entire day collecting cocoons. He went home with 50+ promethea, 25+ Polyphemus and 30+ Cecropia. Several days later I visited the buy/sell section of Insectnet. I became a little upset when I found a "For Sale" with his name and he was selling the cocoons we collected. I had a few unpleasant words with him and I never taken him collecting anywhere again. So here's the deal. I will collect whatever cocoons I can find of Cecropia, Polyphemus and Promethia over the next month or so. They will be free. Tell me what species you would like. I will attempt to collect 6 or 8 of each species on a first come first serve basis. If you keep the cocoons out of doors until spring, whe the females emerge cage them and let them call males. I had a friend in Cleveland, Ohio who lived in a high rise apartment on the 15 or 16 floor. He had female Cecropia's and males came calling. Post your request here on Insectnet. I will not respond to emails. Again post here in Insectnet, first come first served. That’s a very generous thing for you to do Leroy! I have very few moth specimens in my collection other than Eacles imperialis, I have about 20 of them. I would love to receive any cocoons you are willing to give me! |
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Post by joee30 on Dec 13, 2018 15:00:07 GMT -8
I am a person of opportunity. The only reason I find cocoons, I am always looking. I really have no need to collect them. Anymore I am also looking for hibernacula in the winter. I walk fence lines in farmers fields and in many rural locations. Along with hibernacula, I find cocoons, mostly Promethea and occasionally an Angulifera or two. Most of the cocoons I find and collect I usually give them away. The hibernacula are for Asterocampa, Limenitis and moths. Most of the moths are Micro's and occasionally a noctuid or Erebedia. I just like to get out and get among them!! And besides, I am retired. After a hard day in the field, I come home to Mommas Chicken and dumplings, Corn Bread and sweet cream butter. And after a nice lunch, a little nap with Momma and the Kitties. Did I mention I am retired? I wouldn't mind some angulifera, promethea, and cecropia cocoons if you found them. I am especially in need of females as I want to try these for H. euryalus and gloveri in my area. Let me know if this is possible. Thank you. |
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Post by Paul K on Dec 13, 2018 15:21:13 GMT -8
Indeed Leroy’s offer is great and his afford should be greatly appreciated.
As some of you will enjoy those stunning moths emerging from Leroy’s cocoons I will continue to search for them.
First I am in Canada so shipping could be a problem and second I must find/hunt them my self.
Paul
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Post by eurytides on Dec 13, 2018 15:42:04 GMT -8
Hey Chuck, indeed I'm in Kingston. Been here the last 4 years or so and yes definitely a nice place to live. Not too big and not too small.  Tim, yeah I've never seen an E. imperialis. They do come to lights. But finding caterpillars is luck and since they go underground to pupate, well, those are pretty much impossible to find. Leroy, that's very generous indeed. But like Paul, I'm afraid I can't take you up on the offer. Hopefully others can benefit from your generosity. It's probably possible to get permits so that one could legally import live cocoons across the CAN/US border, but it will probably take more time than I can spare. And like Paul, I do also like the challenge of finding them on my own - a sense of accomplishment! |
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 14, 2018 0:28:50 GMT -8
I would be very grateful to receive perhaps 2-3 polyphemus and 2-3 cecropia if you can spare them. I have not had them in years... Thank you for your generous offer !
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 14, 2018 13:21:20 GMT -8
I've never seen an E. imperialis. According to B&M.org, the only recent record is one north of Bellville. There are historic (old) records near the eastern end of Lake Ontario. While B&M.org records are sorely lacking comprehensiveness, a quick glimpse shows virtually no imperialis around Lake Ontario or even south of the lake all the way to PA. Why? There is plenty of walnut. I speculate it may be due to the complete logging of western NY and the entire lakeshore area up to 100 years ago. Perhaps imperialis (and regalis and maybe all Certatocampidae) are slow to re-establish. Chuck |
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Post by eurytides on Dec 14, 2018 14:34:23 GMT -8
Thanks for checking Chuck. I have seen them included in checklists of my region. I will have to check, but I think Tuskes (1996) has a distribution map of imperialis that includes my region also. I think they are rare and probably not a lot of people are out there looking for them. I'm still hopeful that I will find them one day!
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Post by Paul K on Dec 14, 2018 14:52:39 GMT -8
Thanks for checking Chuck. I have seen them included in checklists of my region. I will have to check, but I think Tuskes (1996) has a distribution map of imperialis that includes my region also. I think they are rare and probably not a lot of people are out there looking for them. I'm still hopeful that I will find them one day! I found E.imperialis 300Km north of Toronto at Key River near Georgian Bay. 45°53'22.8"N 80°39'49.7"W |
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 14, 2018 15:15:26 GMT -8
I remember collecting. Eacles imperialis in Allegany State Park in western New York as a young boy. Later as a teenager along the shore of Lake Erie, Geneva on the Lake, Pymatuning Reservoir and Kirtland Hills, Ohio. I used a light fixture with two BLB bulbs, never common, one here and their.
I also collected them in Michigan. I think it was Eacles imperialis pini. I still have specimens from Geneva on the Lake, OH, Allegany S.P. in NY and one from Kirtland Hills, OH. I also have one from Key Largo, Florida.
I have always assumed they occurred on the other side of Lake Erie. After all, it is found in central Michigan.
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Post by eurytides on Dec 16, 2018 18:03:54 GMT -8
Paul,
I drove north today to Cataraqui trail to look for cecropia cocoons (didn't find any), but along the way on hwy 10, there were plenty of promethea cocoons. Driving ~ 80 km/h, I could still see them hanging from small trees on the side of the road. Stopped at one point and within 2-3 minutes collected 5 viable cocoons (found a single tree with 6 cocoons, 3 were dead). If you feel like making the drive out here, cocoons await. The rest of the season, I'm doing to concentrate on cecropia cocoons, but without a lot of snow on the ground, it's really hard to look for them. If anyone has tips for finding cecropia cocoons in southern or eastern Ontario, do share. I don't know if I'm just not looking in the right habitat or if they are just inherently uncommon. Strictly mathematically speaking, I'm literally having infinitely more success finding prometheas over cecropias this season.....
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