Happy New Year all!
Same thread as before but a whole year of moth hunting ahead of us. You don't need lots of expensive equipement to set up light traps, a budget of around £20 should be enough, have a look on the old thread HERE or ask again, there is always (almost) someone who knows. Wendy is our surrogate mum & has a house & shed full of caterpillars & pupas & breeding adults!
The moths are still coming to feed on the rope in the garden. All you need is to dissolve 0,5Kg of sugar in 0,5 litres of wine, by gently heating up & stirring. Then pour the mixture into an old pan & put in a natural fibre rope or cord. (Don't put the ends in as it gets messy). Leave to soak a day & hang in the garden from a tree or bush or between posts. Then go back just after dark & see who's feeding. I tend to pop out about every half hour until bedtime. Then the fun starts as you try to get the camera settings right for the photos. The rope tends to work for about 3 days & then needs redipping during the day before the 4th night. Here are some "library pictures"
My rope is now a lot shorter as I only have 1 tree & just loop it from one low branch, it needs to be about 4ft from the ground. Here is one from 30 December, a Chestnut
Everone is welcome!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
This one choosing an awkward place the next day ...
Had to fold back lid & cover with net as they kept threatening to spin cocoons on the zip opening!!!
Another choosing lid but inside away from zip this time ...
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
There was much activity over those three days, lots of spinning in various locations at once!
Plus having to keep an eye on baby & these last two biggies ... one on left still merrily chomping away but the other lost soul been wandering, not eating, for about four days now & no sign of spinning ... have relocated to separate container in case it's compromised in any contagious way!
EDIT: Eclosing (such a lovely word!) from 7th March earliest ... watch this space!
Fascinating stuff Wendy, I bet you can't wait for the big moment.
Will be thrilling to see so many huge Moths H but am savouring a bit less work for the mo ... have to work out space to accommodate them, have bought a white mesh pop- up linen bin where I can put sticks against sides & net cover on plus butterfly house but I can forsee one or two flying free round the house! Lol
Wow, this is fascinating stuff Wendy, loved the clips too
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Regards, Hazel
Help Wendy! No poos last night, I put in fresh food again (done it twice a day) & this morning it's curled up & still no poos. It may be dead, not sure. Any ideas?
EDIT Just looked & it's moving around again. Phew. Any idea what's wrong? Should I put a bit of compost in the bottom of the tub, maybe it misses the ground!
EDIT 2 Could I cut a turf of lawn (need a pick axe in this cold) & put it in a bucket & pop it in there?
Any idea what length it is now H!
Possibly quiet due to skin shed, do not disturb, just place fresh food in!
You could use potting compost, has the advantage of being more sterile although would still zap it in microwave to be sure, mine have been quite happy to utilise soft white kitchen roll to pupate in!
What's happening now?
I dug up a lump of grass & soil (turf) & put it in an icecream tub. I popped the caterpillar on there & it seems quite OK; Just went to ground. It was about 2cm so could be thinking of shedding it's skin, but it's not due to pupate for ages. I did read though that it goes into the soil for a few days (or was it weeks) before pupation. The colours etc don't look advanced enough yet. Will have to keep fingers crossed I think. It's a while since I did gardening at -6°C! LOL
I also had to cope with finding dead Siskin first thing & have just captured another just sitting there. It just looks feeble, I don't think it's diseased. Its in a box by the fire at the moment with some sunflower hearts.
Can't really suggest anything else H only make sure not too much moisture & keep fingers crossed!
Shame about Siskin, how's the rescue one doing?
It's just died too, another male, natures weeding the weak one's out I expect. It's not very nice though. Temperatures are due to go up on Thursday so I'll probably take in the feeders then in case of contagious diseases, although they didn't look sick.