a moth meets her lover

[nympho]

heres a little film i took this morning.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v11/macu...ersearching.flv

its of a interesting small moth called the vaporer. female has no wings (just little stumps) and male is unsual as well in flying during day. female hatches at 9am and male arrives after about half an hour, sometimes quite a few turn up. after tracking her pherermone to where she is they mate for 10 mins then the male flies off and female lays eggs straight away. i reared about 60 through to adults after finding a female caterpiller on an apple tree. they have 2 generations and the eggs overwinter. the caterpillar is much more beatiful than the moth!

 

[Rick]

Very interesting!

 

[Morpheus uk]

Likewise, congrats on breeding so many, something ive always wanted to do but always messed up along the way XD

What are they feeding on bramble?

 

[Andrew]

Those are awesome. I'm jealous!

 

[nympho]

Likewise, congrats on breeding so many, something ive always wanted to do but always messed up along the way XDWhat are they feeding on bramble?

hi, just spoted your reply.

they were fed birch but they are not fussy and eat just about anything.

catties are not hard to rear. just keep changing the fp every day or other day, or as soon as it wilts or is eaten, or they start crawling about (which means theyre not happy and want new food), and remove all droppings before they go mouldy-everyday if poss. good ventilation, fresh leaves and dryness is the most important things - wet leaves is a very bad thing and causes diseases. some silkmoths dont mind humidity or some water but for most its a bad thing.