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
Sad! My last big silkie is still not dead been hanging on for days now ... do they feel pain I wonder?
Number 9 has spun cocoon & baby may be shedding skin!
How many have you got now in cocoons?
Nine, so am going to split them ... two in large tub, three in Butterfly house & four in laundry basket so that there is room for their very large wings to fully inflate!
If the baby does eventually grow to spin & pupate then I shall have to find another large pot!
Amazing! Are you going to try & get them to breed? I checked on my caterpillar last night & it was munching happily on a blade of grass, so I think it was just on hunger strike for the real plant rather than picked bits. Fussy thing! It should have been grateful not to be out in -6°C!
You're spoiling him H! Lol
Yes, hopefully if I get both sexes they should mate & lay eggs during their all-too-brief lives ... looking forward excitedly to seeing these hooooje Moths!
WendyBartter said: 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!
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!
Big one on left spun cocoon but one of the right was still wandering, last looked at it two days ago (had looked like this for days!)
................. to my complete & utter astonishment I came across this today
I had kept it isolated in small container in case of contagion as I thought it was dying ...... fancy pupating without spinning silk cocoon!!!!
Sad to report though that the littlest one perished during the freezing weather, maybe just too cold at night!
Well i think you have donr very well with all those babies, odd about the last one though, maybe it's something else!!
My litle one is a lot happier now it has it's own bit of garden to munch on. I pop in before going to bed to make sur it's still alive. This is it's new home, icecream tub full of lawn in a fat ball tub with mosquito net over top
& a couple of photos
Not the prettiest of caterpillars but there you go, can't pick & choose!
But it's going to be a very lovely Moth H ... sow's ears to silk purse syndrome! Lol
My naked pupa was definitely just like the others before it started just laying around ... only difference was that it got rather bloated, wonder if it's silk gland bunged up ... was half expecting it to explode!!
Probably would have parachuted back down again if it had! LOL
Lol H! Been reading up on silk glands, in three parts & conditions have to be right for them to start producing during the fifth instar, quite scientifically complicated but am betting that's what could have happened but didn't stop the pupating process, just took lot longer ... still wondering if it could have got parastised by something on privet leaf in same way as that last Red Admiral I had ... we shall see!
Did calculations again & 16 days pupation from when first one went down brings us to 7th March onwards ... oooooh exciting!