silkworm culture

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frogparty said:
Hornworms are easy to culture. The sphinx moths I'm working on
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Malakyoma said:
If they're so much better why don't you post a guide on how you're culturing them then? D made this guide for those of use that hadn't raised moths before and all I'm seeing is you talking about how much better sphinx moths are, so prove it, and let those of us interested in silks have D's thread please.
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They are bigger moths, which means they need less meals and he just said he's working on it. Im sure he wasn't downing the silkworms or their use.........

 
Malakyoma said:
So at what point do you feed the moths off? I imagine feeding them too early wouldnt let the female have a chance to lay, unless you only feed males. In that case how do you tell which is male and which is female?

If I wanted to get these on a cycle that I always had moths available to feed, what kind of setup do you think I would need?
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i mark one wing on the moth when it is mating and then i mark the second wing when i see them laying their eggs, the next day i feed them off. i have a hard time telling the difference sometimes. but the males are much more active with smaller wings and larger antennae. as far are getting a culture going... im just starting myself. but i put a picture above of how box i use and when my eggs hatch im probably going to want to have two containers for them to make cleaning easier.

 
Malakyoma said:
If they're so much better why don't you post a guide on how you're culturing them then? D made this guide for those of use that hadn't raised moths before and all I'm seeing is you talking about how much better sphinx moths are, so prove it, and let those of us interested in silks have D's thread please.
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okay now calm down. when it comes to have much larger mantids you may want much larger moths. the nutrition value is the same and the process is basically the same. but silk moths are big and plenty enough for even my Tenedora gal. sh gets one and a couple flies and she is done for the day.

 
AndrewNisip said:
Would you mind doing a little write up for how you culture your hornworms?

Hemp, awesome write up! ....however, one question; when u talk abt feeding and such....you say to sprinkle the food on them...but on the bottom you have wax paper, can u just line the paper with paste? (A section of it)
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good question, and this i did do at first because thats how i received them. but it goes bad before it has time to dry out and starts to grow mold much quicker.

 
The hornworms were purchased as a feeder kit from smallpetfeeders.com, and I just bought the food and followed the instructions. These same techniques I am currently trying to augment for white lines sphinx moths and one eyed sphinx moths. White lineds are interesting in that they're hummingbird moths, and the adults drink nectar and live quite a long time.

 
frogparty said:
The hornworms were purchased as a feeder kit from smallpetfeeders.com, and I just bought the food and followed the instructions. These same techniques I am currently trying to augment for white lines sphinx moths and one eyed sphinx moths. White lineds are interesting in that they're hummingbird moths, and the adults drink nectar and live quite a long time.
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that is a serious plus for the spynx moth! silk moths do not eat. they mate, they die!

oh ya, now stop hogging my feed. make your own thread homie! :gun_bandana:

 
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when i had silkworms turn into moths, I would place mating pairs in 3.5oz cups with paper towel under the lid and flipped it upside down into a mating chamber. Once they "disengage", I remove the male (feed him off if no more females need him) and leave the female to lay her eggs. Once she lays her eggs, she'sremoved, fed off, and the eggs are left out until they turn grey. The "pod" is then placed in the refrigerator for diapause. The little container then makes for a nice incubation and hatching chamber once they've been removed from the refrigerator after about a month or longer(I think?). I don't know how long the eggs can be kept without hatching being affected.

I might want some silkworm eggs if you happen to have any extras. My last batch didn't do well and died off when feeding chow. I don't do well with the chow, but the mulberry trees are getting leaves and I might want to try them again.

 
patrickfraser said:
when i had silkworms turn into moths, I would place mating pairs in 3.5oz cups with paper towel under the lid and flipped it upside down into a mating chamber. Once they "disengage", I remove the male (feed him off if no more females need him) and leave the female to lay her eggs. Once she lays her eggs, she'sremoved, fed off, and the eggs are left out until they turn grey. The "pod" is then placed in the refrigerator for diapause. The little container then makes for a nice incubation and hatching chamber once they've been removed from the refrigerator after about a month or longer(I think?). I don't know how long the eggs can be kept without hatching being affected.

I might want some silkworm eggs if you happen to have any extras. My last batch didn't do well and died off when feeding chow. I don't do well with the chow, but the mulberry trees are getting leaves and I might want to try them again.
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sorry im just getting my culture started do i dont have any to spare. sorry or i totally would.

the way you were saying you do things sounds like more work than necessary.

when i was a kid we used to keep the eggs in the freezer all year until the leaves started coming in on the trees . then we just took them out

 
When I had mulberry trees in WA it seemed much easier. Hence my desire for sphinx moths that feed on willow, sweet gum, oak, lupin etc all of which grow outside my door

It took me a long time to learn to not over feed the worms. Caused me a lot of issues using the chow.

 
Thank you for posting this! It looks great!

Some other questions that I also had:

  • How long approximately does each live stage take?
  • What do the adult moths eat?
  • Where can we find mulberry leaves? What does the plant look like? Where can we buy them?
 
D_Hemptress said:
sorry im just getting my culture started do i dont have any to spare. sorry or i totally would.

the way you were saying you do things sounds like more work than necessary.

when i was a kid we used to keep the eggs in the freezer all year until the leaves started coming in on the trees . then we just took them out
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I found it easier to deal with one group of eggs at a time, because if the moths are left together they all lay eggs all over the place. The cups just keep them separate and easier to track. I write dates on the cups of laying date and when putting in the fridge. First in, first out. IIt actually isn't much extra work, but to each his/her own.

 
ScienceGirl said:
Thank you for posting this! It looks great!

Some other questions that I also had:

  • How long approximately does each live stage take?
  • What do the adult moths eat?
  • Where can we find mulberry leaves? What does the plant look like? Where can we buy them?
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this is all the info i have. and more will have to be done over time with trial and error.

  • Under ideal conditions (78° to 88° F and allowed to feed nearly continuously) silkworms can go from egg to 1 inch in length in about 12 days, and 3 inches in under 30 days. The worms will begin to spin cocoons at about 28 - 30 days old or when they are between 2 1/2 and 3 inches long. and they are in the cocoon for about two weeks
  • moths do not eat! they mate then they die!
  • the mulberry tree, i have no idea where is the best place to find them, i know of a tree at my elementary school that i went to. but right now there arent any leaves so i ordered the paste via the website
Broad+Spreading+Canopy.jpg


morus_5.jpg


 
patrickfraser said:
I found it easier to deal with one group of eggs at a time, because if the moths are left together they all lay eggs all over the place. The cups just keep them separate and easier to track. I write dates on the cups of laying date and when putting in the fridge. First in, first out. IIt actually isn't much extra work, but to each his/her own.
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that sounds much, much more organized to say the least

 
I removed mine to cups for breeding as well. Then when ready to hatch I just layed the lids of eggs into an incubator to hatch, I am about to grab up another 10,000 zebra silkworm eggs Patrick if you need some.

 
I raised some afew years ago and made silk paper with them. There is a yahoo group for silkworm raisers and the owner showed us how to do it. Sadly the site he had that showed how to do it no longer has the piece about it. It is a blog of some .

He does have a site of his own he started long before that is wonderful. It is www.wormspit.com. There is other info about reeling and cocoon prep.

To get back to feeding them to pets and such, Im sure they must be fun for the mantids. I have not tried it on my girls yet but I will this year. Before I had mantids I had fun giving the moths to my outside birds. Its funny watching chickadees carry them off. They know they found a treasure!

 

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