Silkmoth Keepers

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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 :)

 
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! :)

 
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!

 
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!

 
hibiscusmile said:
Rick was right, this place is getting strange :clown:
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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).

 
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,.

 
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.

 
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!

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

 
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.

 
Myrmecologist2 said:
What do you mean by local trees? Are there specific species?
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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!!!

 
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!!!
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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?

 
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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