# Silkmoth Keepers



## sporeworld (Mar 16, 2012)

I wanted to do a quick shout to any Forum Members who are into, or might want to BE into, Silkmoths. If you can contact me privately, or just post on this thread, I'd like to get a sense of who has or wants what.

I'm also not sure how the forum community and our beloved moderators feel about exotic Silkmoths, and would like to get their stance on the matter before any folk incriminate themselves.


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## agent A (Mar 16, 2012)

personally i'd love to see a saturniid forum

i keep actias luna, automeris io, and hyalaphora cecropia

i'd like to get my hands on some hyalaphora columbia though


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## twolfe (Mar 16, 2012)

I have about 20 Actias Luna, 10 Polyphemus, and 1 Cecropia cocoons in my referigerator right now.

Last year I tried some Automeris io as I thought the caterpillars looked cool. I had a greenhouse set up out back with a lot of my moths and lots of plants. They were all native species in case they escaped. I never saw the IOs mate. They laid eggs but didn't hatch. I heard the cats sting.


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## agent A (Mar 16, 2012)

i lost my ENTIRE second brood of polys last year to tiger beetles


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## Bryce08 (Mar 16, 2012)

I would be very interested in getting into them  I have asked a couple people on here about them and some info on them.


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## agent A (Mar 16, 2012)

i should have TONS of luna eggs available in spring

a few forum members r gonna trade eggs of their stock with eggs of mine to increase the genetic variability of our stocks


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## sporeworld (Mar 16, 2012)

That's great!

I'm at the end of a brood now, and I'm remembering how much more I enjoy the cats vs. the adults (who, quite honestly, don't do much). But OMG... I forgot just how much these monsters consume!!! I put one in a private enclosure, and counted the droppings from a 24 hour period. That little beastie created 22 pieces of frass!!

Amazing!


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## agent A (Mar 16, 2012)

20 Luna moths in the larva stage produce 4 cups of frass at least lol


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## sporeworld (Mar 16, 2012)

And, apparently, their frass makes outstanding fertilizer! Orchid (plants) breeders love it! I toss most of the frass in my patio planters.


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## twolfe (Mar 16, 2012)

Hmmm. I'll have to try that for my Orchids. I collected the frass last year but ended up dumping it in the compost pile.


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## Colorcham427 (Mar 17, 2012)

Not another species! lol I'll PM you I'm into these.


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## sporeworld (Mar 17, 2012)

Ha, ha!

For anyone who hasn't experienced it, a (very) large silkmoth crawaling on your skin is a... well, unique experience.


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## Bryce08 (Mar 18, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Ha, ha!
> 
> For anyone who hasn't experienced it, a (very) large silkmoth crawaling on your skin is a... well, unique experience.


now im scared  

lol j/k

although with like a what...9 inch wingspan or so....you might be right lol


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## agent A (Mar 18, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Ha, ha!
> 
> For anyone who hasn't experienced it, a (very) large silkmoth crawaling on your skin is a... well, unique experience.


They seem to hug your finger when u hold them

It's so sweet :wub:


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## sporeworld (Mar 18, 2012)

It really is. My staff were braver about ferocious looking mantids crawling on them, than they are about "worms". But I like having them crawl on me when I'm doing paperwork. Keeps me smiling! But you can't be in a hurry. They'll let go when they're good and ready.

And, to anyone who keeps these guys, and can manage to feed them Sweet Gum, your whole room will smell like flowers (Sweet Gum is very aromatic). During the last few instars, there's so much grinding and gnashing of leaves, that it's as strong as having lilies in a vase. Jasmine vines in my office didn't give off as much aroma as chewed Sweet Gum. Mmmmmm... And in the last instar, you can HEAR them chewing across the room!


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## CoolMantid (Mar 19, 2012)

I have 2 ios and 4 Prometha on the way (just bought them)

I wanna get some more Polyphemus as mine never hatched. I can't wait for them to eclose! A big moth flying around!! Can't wait

Nice to know there are other giant silkmoth lovers out there


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## sporeworld (Mar 19, 2012)

Yeah - Poly's are almost terrifying when the fly - big and barely in control. You can hear them flapping from pretty far away, too.

Prometha are on the small side, but really beautiful. Cynthia's are another gorgeous moth.


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## CoolMantid (Mar 19, 2012)

I like promethas because they eat Sassafrass which I have every where. Polys eat oak which is also everywhere. There is one thing I am worried about, If an Ios gets out they will ddestroy native plants. As Ios are found on the other side of the country. I just cant get that out of my head.  

Cynthias remind me of Atlas moths.

Hey Sporeworld,

Are you going to the LA natural history museam for the Butterfly Habitat opening on April 8 (Well April 8 is the first day its open and thats when they have the most butterflies/moths because they were just introduced.) I am going on April 8 to see the new moths they said they are going to put in. Last time the moths were hiding in Summer because of the harsh lights. I was suprised at that when they announced it before we went in. So if you go a couple days after they were released they shoulds still be out.


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## CoolMantid (Mar 19, 2012)

there is one thing that worries me that Agent A pointed out. What should I do if one Io emerges first before the other? Agent A suggested putting him/her in the fridge to "sleep"

Would this work? I only have 2


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## sporeworld (Mar 19, 2012)

Hertarem45 said:


> ...Polys eat oak which is also everywhere.
> 
> Hey Sporeworld,
> 
> Are you going to the LA natural history museam for the Butterfly Habitat opening on April 8...


Poly LOVE SweetGum, which is also all over SoCal. It's my preferred non-winter food source.

As for the history museum, I hadn't thought about it. Probably. My schedules pretty chaotic, so I'm not sure. Sounds good, though!


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## CoolMantid (Mar 19, 2012)

What would you say about the other thing? the one about one moth eclosing before the other???


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## sporeworld (Mar 20, 2012)

Moths I raised together, with the same lighting conditions (day length) all eclosed within a day or so of each other (I think the boys always come out first). But cocoons I've received from others have been all over the map!

I have no personal experience with chilling the adults to slow them down. Seems like it would work, though.


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## agent A (Mar 20, 2012)

i am kinda freaked out by polys lol

still looking for columbias and wont be long before my cocoons eclose


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## mongoslade2110 (Mar 20, 2012)

ya im in to saturniids to i hope that we can all share are broods together


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## automeris (Mar 21, 2012)

i've been raising saturniids for a wile. i raised some citheronia caterpillars last year which was fun.


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## sporeworld (Mar 21, 2012)

Nice. A good start to a small sub-community!


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## sporeworld (Mar 21, 2012)

agent A said:


> i am kinda freaked out by polys lol


What freaks you out about Polys...?


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## agent A (Mar 22, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> What freaks you out about Polys...?


their size, the way they fly idiotically, the way they hide in a compost pile for 2 days and are found mating with not 1, but 2 males, and the way they panic lay eggs (when they are disturbed)


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## sporeworld (Mar 22, 2012)

Fair enough.  The size is the cool part for me, but... yeah - add that to Flash Gordon style landings, and eeek!

And, yeah... never had a problem mating them. Very... prolific.


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## CoolMantid (Mar 22, 2012)

Do cocoons wiggle a lot normally? Mine are like dancing


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## Peter Clausen (Mar 23, 2012)

I've been down here blacklighting about four times. There's nothing quite like it in the US.

http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/butterflies/mothlist.html

No thread on this subject is complete w/o that link!


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## agent A (Mar 23, 2012)

Hertarem45 said:


> Do cocoons wiggle a lot normally? Mine are like dancing


Constantly


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## CoolMantid (Mar 23, 2012)

Yah its fun to watch!

Mothing is fun. I will try soon when it gets a little warmer at night


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## sporeworld (Mar 24, 2012)

Peter Clausen said:


> I've been down here blacklighting about four times. There's nothing quite like it in the US.
> 
> http://nitro.biosci....s/mothlist.html
> 
> No thread on this subject is complete w/o that link!


Never gets old.


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## agent A (Mar 24, 2012)

I was stalked by a raccoon last backlighting and I caught a mated Virginia creeper sphinx and got like 80 larvae


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## CoolMantid (Mar 24, 2012)

What is blacklighting? Is it the same as mothing? Can you give me information or links in depth?


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## CoolMantid (Mar 25, 2012)

Well I bought a black light and I am going black lighting tonight. So far I just found small feeder moths and a couple of flies. I hope I get some larger moths such as Shinxes, Hawks or Saturniids.


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## agent A (Mar 25, 2012)

Hertarem45 said:


> Well I bought a black light and I am going black lighting tonight. So far I just found small feeder moths and a couple of flies. I hope I get some larger moths such as Shinxes, Hawks or Saturniids.


Saturniids fly early morningish

A calling female can help u attract many of them lol


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## CoolMantid (Mar 25, 2012)

I was doing it until about 11-12ish but then it started raining lol


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## agent A (Mar 25, 2012)

lol it rained here too!!

i wanna get hyalophora columbia columbia sooo bad but when i email bill oehlkew abt them he doesnt respond even though his site says he anticipates he'll have them this year  

oh well, guess i'll have to wait and see if he emails me back closer to egg season


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## CoolMantid (Mar 25, 2012)

I dont like Bill O. in fact I really hate him... sorry lol

He said he would have Hyalophora euraylus this year!


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## agent A (Mar 25, 2012)

i don't hate him, i just think he needs to be more patient with young saturniid hobbyists and realize peeps' brains work in different ways

i think he gets annoyed with me but that's a characteristic of me, i easily annoy peeps for some unknown reason

anyways i can't wait to get my rearing sleeves from him even though i wont need them for quite some time now, it won't be for at least 6 more weeks that i will see the first saturniids emerging, but i am excited for this upcoming brood as i'm rearing new species and it's gonna be real fun!


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## CoolMantid (Mar 25, 2012)

My ios have been at 80 degrees for about 3 weeks cant wait for them to hatch


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## sporeworld (Mar 29, 2012)

Ah, the joy of new discoveries! My first cat of the year has begun spinning! So, amazing!


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## RobR1976 (Mar 29, 2012)

I have 19 Citheronia Regalis, 8 Citheronia Splendens, 11 Polyphemus, and a few dozen Giant Leoporad cats.


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## sporeworld (Mar 29, 2012)

The Giant Leopards (Hypercompe scribonia) is a gorgeous moth. I just had the Regalis a few months ago. They took FOREVER to eclose! Like 6 months! Crazy!


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## sporeworld (Mar 30, 2012)

And, man-o-man do I appreciate my little shop vac! Vroom-Vroom and the bottom's clean of waste. I kid you not, right now my office sounds like one of those rain makers... could can hear their colossal frass hitting the bottom every 2 seconds. In between, you can hear what sounds like tiny fingernail clippers.... Them chomp, chomp, chomping away. Easily a full trash bag full of leaves each day!


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 30, 2012)

Rick was right, this place is getting strange :clown:


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## agent A (Mar 30, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> The Giant Leopards (Hypercompe scribonia) is a gorgeous moth.


i want some!!!


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## sporeworld (Mar 30, 2012)

hibiscusmile said:


> Rick was right, this place is getting strange :clown:


Ha! What'ya mean, "getting"...?  This from the sweet, midwestern lady with an industrial "Bugatorium" in her house!?! You KNOW you're a reality TV show just _waiting_ to happen!!!

(BTW, I miss your avatar with your big smiling face).


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## agent A (Mar 30, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Ha! What'ya mean, "getting"...?  This from the sweet, midwestern lady with an industrial "Bugatorium" in her house!?! You KNOW you're a reality TV show just _waiting_ to happen!!!
> 
> (BTW, I miss your avatar with your big smiling face).


u don't see her big smiling face on her current avatar? :tt2: :tt2:


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 1, 2012)

Really cool, I've always had a thing for these big amazing moths. Just not really sure where to start with growing host plants, purchasing cats/coons, etc. I bought a couple mulberry trees 2 years ago and have been growing them up for breeding silkworms,.


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## sporeworld (Apr 2, 2012)

Living in Orlando, you shouldn't need to grow anything - you can just clip off your local trees (with the owners permission, of course). Or you can just buy cocoons, and free any eggs that are produced - skipping the whole caterpillar / feeding issues. It's only a 5 or 6 day enjoyment of the moths, but it's a good starting point.


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## mantidsaresweet (Apr 2, 2012)

I enjoy raising moths/catts as well, I currently have 2 Hyalophora cecropia just waiting for them to eclose lol.

I'd like to get a bunch of different species this year. I've always liked Luna and I really want to get my hands on Rosy Maple Moths this year!


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 2, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Living in Orlando, you shouldn't need to grow anything - you can just clip off your local trees (with the owners permission, of course). Or you can just buy cocoons, and free any eggs that are produced - skipping the whole caterpillar / feeding issues. It's only a 5 or 6 day enjoyment of the moths, but it's a good starting point.


What do you mean by local trees? Are there specific species?


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## CoolMantid (Apr 2, 2012)

I have never seen an adult in person, but my friends will find one and take a picture but not catch it for me.... I even gave them all cages to catch them in but they won't do it. They even found an adult Polyphemus female that was really fat, probably pregnant, but they didn't catch it for me  

Can't wait for my ios to eclose.


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## sporeworld (Apr 2, 2012)

Myrmecologist2 said:


> What do you mean by local trees? Are there specific species?


Yeah - I'm not sure what you have there normally - I know you have Lunas, and I think Cecropia. Both eat a wide variety of plants. SweetGum, Persimmon, Birch are all good choices. Scout your neighborhood, then ask if you can trim a few leaves (at first). Since they're local, you can even bring them eggs, if you get any. Or the adult to see and touch. Worst case, and short term, you can buy a plant at the store and keep them from it directly. But man, oh, man... can they EAT!!!


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 2, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Yeah - I'm not sure what you have there normally - I know you have Lunas, and I think Cecropia. Both eat a wide variety of plants. SweetGum, Persimmon, Birch are all good choices. Scout your neighborhood, then ask if you can trim a few leaves (at first). Since they're local, you can even bring them eggs, if you get any. Or the adult to see and touch. Worst case, and short term, you can buy a plant at the store and keep them from it directly. But man, oh, man... can they EAT!!!


You just helped me ID a tree right behind my yard, sweetgum! That's pretty encouraging, so would nothing but sweetgum be fine for the cats? What species could I keep? Just Lunas and Cecropia?


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## sporeworld (Apr 2, 2012)

Luckily, Sweetgum is just about THE most popular host plant for most of the American species. It's all you'll need. Polyphemus, Cecropia and Luna all love it.


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 2, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> Luckily, Sweetgum is just about THE most popular host plant for most of the American species. It's all you'll need. Polyphemus, Cecropia and Luna all love it.


YES! There's at least a good dozen trees around my neighborhood, most ornamental, but some are growing randomly along the woods close by. I always wondered what kind of trees they were, they sure do produce lots of seed pods, AKA "painfull spike balls" around my neighborhood, quite the terror walking under them without shoes on! Glad that might be of use to me. To get started, where might I purchase eggs/cocoons? Which stage would be best to start from? What species?


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## sporeworld (Apr 3, 2012)

My advice (despite some mixed reviews on feedback) is Bill Oehlke. Either google his name, or go to http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/ and he should have an inventory list.

Cecropia are the largest, most impressive (imo) and easiest to rear. And they have one of the most impressive caterpillars in North America. The Lunas are also big, bright green, and elegant. A close 2nd, imo. I believe both can be released in your area.

Also, double-check that your trees are Sweetgum and not Sycamore - which has very decorative bark, and smaller, seedballs than the sweetgum (although, I think Cecropia will eat either).

I say get cocoons and see if you like them. Chances are really good if they're coming from the fridge, you can get them to eclose within a few days of each other, and mate, if that's what you want.


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## agent A (Apr 3, 2012)

Sporeworld said:


> My advice (despite some mixed reviews on feedback) is Bill Oehlke. Either google his name, or go to http://www3.islandte...m.com/~oehlkew/ and he should have an inventory list.
> 
> Cecropia are the largest, most impressive (imo) and easiest to rear. And they have one of the most impressive caterpillars in North America. The Lunas are also big, bright green, and elegant. A close 2nd, imo. I believe both can be released in your area.
> 
> ...


lunas and cecropias will eat sycamore

polyphemus and io will too since they eat just abt anything lol

hey r u selling your leopard moths sporeworld? i wanna get my hands on some


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