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Post by Paul K on Dec 16, 2018 18:26:47 GMT -8
I went today to two of my collecting spots 50km west of Toronto. Found some small maple trees and secondary grow habitat and yes, you guessed it right, zero cocoons, none, nada, 0.
Thanks for direction, I wish I could drive there but it is a bit far, maybe if I will be bored during the winter months I will try.
Paul
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Post by Paul K on Dec 16, 2018 18:37:13 GMT -8
Eury, please let me know on which species of tree you found promethea cocoons. Do you have some photos to post?
Paul
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Post by eurytides on Dec 16, 2018 20:24:45 GMT -8
Paul, unfortunately I didn’t think to take any photos today. I most commonly find them on white ash trees 1-3 m tall. There may be local host plant preferences. I would also pay attention to young black cherry trees.
Don’t give up Paul. It’s a numbers game. The cecropias are out there, and the more we look, the more likely we will find them.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 17, 2018 4:23:55 GMT -8
If anyone has tips for finding cecropia cocoons in southern or eastern Ontario, do share. Look in suburbs and urban parks. Do a drive by. If you see a few large maples or willows and there's a park bench or outhouse nearby, look under the overhangs of the bench & building. In Kingston area, try the waterfront parks like Confederation Basin, up the Cat river and west along the lake shore. There are maples in the little parks in Picton and Gan which should be perfect for cecropia. They will pupate in the crooks of trees and on the bark a meter above the ground, but the best place is the underside of picnic tables. Best time to look is early Fall, before the maintenance staff piles up all the picnic tables. If you see the tables all stacked up, you can check those as well, but I've not had great luck doing that, maybe the squirrels get them. Chuck
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Post by eurytides on Dec 17, 2018 16:29:32 GMT -8
Thanks for the tips Chuck. You seem to know the area well. Are you from the region?
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Post by papilio28570 on Dec 17, 2018 23:34:05 GMT -8
I can understand wanting cocoons and I too would like some; but, I find it much more enjoyable to actually get out there and try to find them. I consider it a learning process and part and parcel of the hobby. It is surprising what you will learn about the natural habitat around you. I have been looking for Cecropia for years, actually decades here, in eastern North Carolina. I have only seen the moth twice and found a viable cocoon once. I found 6 parcitized cocoons on a small black cherry once that was no more that 4 feet high. I enjoy the challenge.
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Post by eurytides on Dec 18, 2018 4:52:34 GMT -8
I can understand wanting cocoons and I too would like some; but, I find it much more enjoyable to actually get out there and try to find them. I consider it a learning process and part and parcel of the hobby. It is surprising what you will learn about the natural habitat around you. I have been looking for Cecropia for years, actually decades here, in eastern North Carolina. I have only seen the moth twice and found a viable cocoon once. I found 6 parcitized cocoons on a small black cherry once that was no more that 4 feet high. I enjoy the challenge.
Same here! I also enjoy just getting out and being surrounded by nature.
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Post by Paul K on Dec 18, 2018 6:45:25 GMT -8
I can understand wanting cocoons and I too would like some; but, I find it much more enjoyable to actually get out there and try to find them. I consider it a learning process and part and parcel of the hobby. It is surprising what you will learn about the natural habitat around you. I have been looking for Cecropia for years, actually decades here, in eastern North Carolina. I have only seen the moth twice and found a viable cocoon once. I found 6 parcitized cocoons on a small black cherry once that was no more that 4 feet high. I enjoy the challenge.
Same here! I also enjoy just getting out and being surrounded by nature.
I totally agree with both of you.
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Post by LEPMAN on Dec 18, 2018 15:34:34 GMT -8
I would normally agree to this as well but I’m desperate for cocoons and haven’t had luck finding any!!
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Post by eurytides on Dec 18, 2018 16:58:54 GMT -8
18duroe, there are also several sources online. You can order them for a few dollars/cocoon if you really can't wait.
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Post by Paul K on Dec 18, 2018 17:12:51 GMT -8
18duroe, there are also several sources online. You can order them for a few dollars/cocoon if you really can't wait. That’s right, most of N.American Satutniidae are inexpensive. It costs much more to look for them than order, but to find them that is the real deal.
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Post by eurytides on Dec 18, 2018 17:27:28 GMT -8
Oh I know, but 18duroe said he was "desperate" for them. I mean, I'm desperate too, but I still want to find them on my own. I mean, we're in Canada, we have bill Oehlke - you can order hundreds of cecropia cocoons from him so long as you have the funds!
But yeah, if you think about the time and gasoline it takes to go to these places and then walk around for hours and hours in the windy cold of Canada, just to find maybe 1 cocoon...and who knows if it's even viable, if it's a female, and if you'll get a successful mating the next spring. I mean, no one in their right mind would pick that over just buying cocoons unless they truly loved the challenge. I remember so well the first time I found a live cecropia cocoon (male, in my collection now). Just earlier that week, I was telling someone how hopeless it all seemed and how I had been looking for years without finding anything. Then I decided to go out and look once more. Along a path which I had already walked several times that season, out of nowhere, I just noticed this brown spindle shaped bag on a prickly ash branch. I could hardly believe it. I stared at it for a few seconds, but I knew pretty much instantly what it was. I broke the branch off and gave it a shake. A thud! I found a live one! I didn't want to cut it open as I didn't want to risk any damage. The next spring, I was surprised with a huge male cecropia moth. I kept both the cocoon and the specimen. Later that season, I would find 2 additional cecropia cocoons that were viable. Both were male, but only one eclosed properly. I let that one go, but in the morning, found wing pieces and knew it was killed by a bird. I found another cocoon with live parasites and several other old cecropia cocoons. This was several years ago. However, the last couple of years, despite searching the sames spots, I have not found another live cocoon.
I live to experience that sort of excitement again, that sense of joy and discovery and anticipation.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 18, 2018 19:55:12 GMT -8
Due to issues at home, I have yet to take a day and go cocoon collecting.
Some of my favorite locations are old industrial areas with lots of Silver Maples. I was up in Cincinnati last week to pick up material for Leptraps. The area is an old industrial complex. I found several Cecropia cocoons and a cluster of what appear to be some sort of Noctuid larvae.
This coming Sunday I will visit some areas in northern Lexington with lots of European Birch and other areas of Silver Maples. We shall see.
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Post by Paul K on Dec 20, 2018 17:46:06 GMT -8
Today I drove 70km SW of Toronto where someone report sighting of Callosamia promethea. I walked for good 5km and I found one cocoon and yes it is dead. I think parasites took care of it as there was no large exit hole and the pupa was empty. Here are some photos if someone could please confirm the species.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Dec 20, 2018 18:13:51 GMT -8
When it comes to Callosamia promethea and Callosamia angulifera, their cocoons are almost identical. What type of tree did you find it on? If it was on Sassafras or Wild Cherry, it is Callosamia promethea. If it was on Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Tree, it is Callosamia angulifera.
Best I can do.
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