Keeping and breeding butterflies

I put it on a shelf closer to the freezer in a container with moss, it perfectly saves from mold in moderate humidity. And instead of the lid, I just close it with a paper napkin - and it collects excess moisture and lets air through. Almost all wintered well. Although I also have little experience so far)

Vasily, thank you very much! Do you mean ordinary forest moss? How often do you moisturize it? I will try using your method only I have a freezer at the bottom with a separate entrance I became interested in insects from the age of 7, but I started to gain skills and get acquainted with the specialists of this forum not so long ago.

Dear friends!
Please tell me how to properly keep pupae in the refrigerator drip system? The container is plastic, cardboard, or it doesn't matter? From the filler earth, sawdust or maybe just paper? And do I need to cover the container with a lid or keep it open? I think the pupae will die in a closed one.

I keep it in a vegetable drawer, in an open box made of plastic or cardboard-it doesn't matter. Each pupa is wrapped together with its label in a piece of cloth. I don't use fillers. They overwinter normally.

Good time of day.
I bought triodes Rhadamanthus butterflies. Their food plant is kirkazon. Tell me , please, on what other plants they can be grown. Does atlas eat peanuts, clover, wheat? What indoor plants can atlas be grown on?

Where do you live? Kirkazon is not a very rare plant, the question can only rest on where to get it in winter.
What makes you think Atlas should eat wheat or clover? He eats lilacs. In my opinion, there should be no problems with it in any city south of the Arctic Circle.
For the future, I advise you to first provide all the necessary conditions for keeping an animal (any) and only then buy the animal itself.

I ran into a problem: the caterpillars of a village bear were attacked by some ticks. One was found in a semi-dead state (moving only the front part) next to its exuvium (recently shed, judging by the color), completely covered with these mites. I threw it away. But others, while still alive and active, are also covered with them, although not so densely. Ticks were brought, obviously, with food (dandelion leaves).
In other containers (I have four of them), I haven't noticed any parasites yet, but since I feed them all from one bag, they probably have already made their way everywhere, just they didn't have time to breed in sufficient numbers to be noticed everywhere.



What are these ticks and how to deal with them? It will be a pity to lose everyone at the last age.

Another problem (or maybe not a problem, but just a strange phenomenon): some caterpillars are completely or partially bald:



With ticks, the connection is not visible, in any case, I did not notice them on the bald ones, activity and appetite are preserved.

In general, it somehow became difficult with these tracks at the very finish line. When in the old days I grew one joke, there were no problems. Here, now two already the third week in cocoons lie feet up and neither bae nor me, maybe even died it is unclear from what (there are no ticks on them). And the only pupa at the moment is just in a jar with ticks.

I've had similar ticks before, but not in such numbers. They attacked the pupae, at least. I don't know how to fight. As for pupation, the bears (and monovoltine scoops) bred without wintering, I turned out to be small, and often even crooked freaks. If you want normally developed butterflies, then you need to winter the caterpillars.

Yes, it's too late to winter them, most of them have faded in the last age, including those in cocoons, and they winter in the penultimate one, without cocoons. You can't tell by their size that they're small. Here someone wrote that with this species you can do without wintering. So I fell for it. Since these ticks are also dangerous for pupae, the natural question is: is it possible to open the cocoon and transfer the pupa to a clean container, or will it only get worse?

Yes, it's too late to winter them, most of them have faded in the last age, including those in cocoons, and they winter in the penultimate one, without cocoons. You can't tell by their size that they're small. Here someone wrote that with this species you can do without wintering. So I fell for it. Since these ticks are also dangerous for pupae, the natural question is: is it possible to open the cocoon and transfer the pupa to a clean container, or will it only get worse?

Something similar was observed with Orgyia recens however in the spring of 18.05.2013



after molting 22.05.2013


then everything is normal until the output of babochki

After all, the bald caterpillar died, and no ticks were found on the corpse. In general, about a third of the last-instar caterpillars died. In previous ages, there was no such mass death. Yesterday the first normal butterfly was bred:





Who is this by gender?

And on December 13 nedobabochka appeared:



Perhaps she was just afraid to get out of the cocoon for the reason that there were still many hungry caterpillars in the jar, one of which almost devoured her before my eyes, I had to quickly remove it. It could not get out of the caterpillar-doll matryoshka pupa, it was necessary to carefully break it with a needle and remove it, the covers were not damaged. But after a while, this nedobabochka ran away somewhere and disappeared without a trace, probably for the best.

Even earlier, on December 3, a beautiful bedstraw hawk moth was hatched:



The caterpillar was collected on November 5, ate milkweed for a couple of days (I didn't find a bedstraw at this time of year) and pupated.



Due to the lack of a pair, I immediately froze the hawk moth, but I will try to keep the bear until the appearance of a sexual partner, there are several more pupae of about the same age.

This post was edited by ENO-12/19/2016 07: 23

Tell me hawk moth made masonry development was going great. but before the geese came out, half of them didn't come out, the ginger dried up.

Tell me hawk moth made masonry development was going great. but before the geese came out, half of them didn't come out, the ginger dried up.

I'll say it as an assumption: this could happen as a result of not quite successful mating.

I'll share my results with the dippers. About a dozen good villikas came out (about 50/50 males and females). At first, I put them all in a large insectarium, hoping for independent mating. They lived for two weeks on average (females slightly more males-slightly less). The only result achieved is the fraying of corpses, especially males. The females laid wildly, and not a single egg was hatched. Obviously, the copulation never took place. Therefore, the last bred butterflies (three pieces) immediately starved), only from them normal specimens turned out. Some caterpillars were very backward in development and wove cocoons after the death of the last butterfly, in February-March, so far none of them have come out, and obviously they will not come out again.

Fulliginosa successfully overwintered, rounded up a few days after I moved the jar with it from under the balcony door to a warmer place in early March. Before that, I didn't eat (I even tried to give nettles). Bobochka was released in mid-March without pathologies. That's it.

I've had Hebe the bear caterpillar cocooned for almost a week now, but it still hasn't shed its skin. Infected with tachins? But there are no cocoons lying around like.

This post was edited by Wave Storm - 18.04.2017 22: 46

Why do you need tahini? It may well reset in three weeks, or it may just die quietly, it seems that the bears in this matter are completely liberal.

Good day to all! What tropical butterfly species can be bred in our latitudes (unpretentious in the sense)? What types do you recommend? You can go here,you can go to the BOS or email metallmikki@gmail.com

Winterized pupae of pavonia in the refrigerator, got 5 males and 1 female in the New Year, a few days later two males were hatched. The rest lay for two or three weeks, they move when you touch them, I put them back in the refrigerator for repeated wintering. In early May, I got two females, which I didn't get in the winter, I want to lure the males. One female hatched, which lay all winter in the refrigerator, the other two females (one wintered for the second time, the other once again lie for the second week and the males wintered for the second time and one with one wintering) move and do not want to go out.
How do I force them to exit?
What's wrong?

How old is Pavonia in your area?" Once they move, then histolysis has not really begun yet, and the butterfly is still a long time away in any case.

Butterflies will come out, but with a big time difference, I got them early. closer to spring, they come out together. according to my calculations the pupa stage is 9 days old males 11-12 females

I have been breeding pavonias for several years. Here every year the problem happens, some pupae come out together in 6-10 days, and some, sometimes more than half, lie for a month or two until July, move and do not come out, then die. What is the problem? What keeps them from breeding with the rest of us?

This post was edited by Alexanor - 05/11/2017 20: 48

I found a treefly caterpillar that was corrosive, has anyone ever bred them? can you tell me how to keep it and what to feed it? I'm afraid it will die

That's it, she's dead... I didn't want to eat apple branches and leaves.

Are you sure it was a woodchuck?" Where and how was it found? Do you have a photo?

In general, again I was unlucky with Hebe. Today I opened the cocoon, and there is a dried caterpillar. She didn't initially pupate, it turns out.

Eggs of P. tianschanicus 30 rubles apiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ujEUTd89P0

Hurt, didn't log in. This is Tumanov. t00m@list.ru.

Eggs of P. tianschanicus 30 rubles apiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ujEUTd89P0

And what can I feed you?

Sedum telephium, Sedum album. Rhodiola rosea.

Can you tell me how to properly care for mnemosyne eggs?

The most important thing is not to forget to wipe your ass with it!

The most important thing is not to forget to wipe your ass with it!

Very funny!

Faced with something new for me! In early June, I found a clutch of raspberry cocoonworms. A week passed and 9 caterpillars were born. But the others didn't come out and didn't come out. The day came when all the"others" came out. Only these "others" turned out to be small midges? Question: what kind of parasites are these, or maybe I misunderstood something?

Faced with something new for me! In early June, I found a clutch of raspberry cocoonworms. A week passed and 9 caterpillars were born. But the others didn't come out and didn't come out. The day came when all the"others" came out. Only these "others" turned out to be small midges? Question: what kind of parasites are these, or maybe I misunderstood something?

Trichogrammatidae of some sort, probably.

Question: what kind of parasites are these, or maybe I misunderstood something?

Apparently these are egg-parasitizing horsemen. Viktor Fursov deals with this group of riders and asks them to send them to him.

Please help! Butterfly Peacock-eyed pear made a clutch on the windowsill, 73 caterpillars came out of the eggs safely, shed 2 times, some even 3 times (turned green). But this morning I found them dying! Some dark brown liquid is released from the mouth, they do not eat anything and die curled up

The pear was not treated with anything? If not, then some kind of infection, try to put them in isolation cells one at a time, maybe someone will survive. And don't forget to clean up the excrement.

This post was edited by ENO-10.07.2017 16: 51

They live in a container, I open it very often, almost always open. How can I help kids? 26 pieces have already died!

If you get sick and start to die, then most likely, there is nothing to help.
The reason is that this type cannot live in a container. Caterpillars of this species need wind blowing. Try to cut a branch, put it in a jar of water and direct the air flow from the fan to the branch.

Yes, somehow people without any fans (and even more so - natural blowing) grow-pupate, the view is very popular. In Europe, it is still fashionable to blow stick insects with fans, but in my experience with many species this is nonsense. Although, maybe, in a very humid climate and not stupid... But we just have a container taken from the top with a grid that is more than enough for the humidity inside to equal the room humidity, for almost all insects, including local ones, on the contrary, we have to take care of its increase.

Thank you so much for your tips! The pear was hardly processed, I found it in the next yard, it just grows on the street, but still I didn't pick it anymore, they switched to cherry leaves from another yard. Now I wash my twig, dry it and carefully distill each one on a separate leaf, put the twigs in vases, put paper napkins around the holes. Many died, but the healthiest and largest live (15 pcs.) Now they are already 3.5 cm, thick, eat well (in my opinion))) Some are quite underdeveloped some, surprised that one, being still black, not even faded, began to wrap threads (what are they called

Caterpillars of many species can weave a cocoon not only for pupation, but also for normal molting, or just to wait out unfavorable conditions.

Yes, somehow people without any fans (and even more so - natural blowing) grow-pupate, ...
so that the humidity of the air inside is equal to room temperature,

Did they grow up with you?
I'm dead.

The humidity in the rooms is different for everyone.

Caterpillars of many species can weave a cocoon not only for pupation, but also for normal molting, or just to wait out unfavorable conditions.

What types, for example?

Yes, somehow people without any fans (and even more so - natural blowing) grow-pupate, the view is very popular.

These people usually have a forage plant on hand. That is, the species is grown, for example, in the country. A branch of the feed plant is taken, dipped in a jar and caterpillars are planted on the feed plant. Something is placed on the jar to prevent the caterpillars from drowning. The jar should be placed closer to the light, to the windows. They usually don't write about ventilation if the species is grown in this way, since the caterpillars are ventilated automatically. By the way, there should be a pear peacock eye in Donetsk. You can look for caterpillars and try to grow them.