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Hi All,
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Shipping of US stock has begun in November. Bonnie has sent shipments out on November 9 and November 16 with subsequent orders being shipped most Mondays after receipt of payment. Last shipment in 2009 will probably be the second Monday in December to avoid holiday delays. Shipping will resume in January 2010.
I still have some luna and polyphemus in PEI for shipping to Canada and overseas.
In the US for shipping to US destinations and overseas Bonnie has the following:
luna, promethea, io (small number), unspecified Automeris $4.20 (we think these are mostly pamina, but there could be some iris hesselorum in the mix);
polyphemus at $4.95; cecropia, euryalus, columbia gloveri all at $6.20; regalis at $16.20/pair (have some extra females);
spicebush and eastern tiger swallowtails at $4.25 and black and zebra swallowtails at $4.50.
For all US destinations there is one shipping and handling fee of $8.00. For overseas, shipping charges will depend on your location and size of order.
Yes, Hyalophora columbia gloveri from Colorado are now available. First ninety-eight all gone, but fifty more supposed to be coming first week in December. (now in)
Please always send your complete shipping address in any emails where you are placing or enquiring about an order. Do not send money until your order has been confirmed.
The Eupackardia calleta, Eacles imperialis, Callosamia angulifera, Heraclides cresphontes that arrived are all spoken for. I did my best to see that all who requested those species got some. There are still small numbers of Eacles oslari which I will have to sell as trios or foursomes with one male in the group as I received a preponderance of females. We are still awaiting (now in) a small shipment of Citheronia splendens sinaloensis so I do not know what the gender mix (updated to 7 males and 12 females) will be for that species, and they are now all spoken for.
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Leroy Simon writes, "Merry Christmas. I have made up a DVD of most of the moths I have reared. It has 362 jpg images on it. Several are from old slides some taken 25 years ago. Each is labeled by name. I will send you a copy. I would like to offer this DVD to members for $12 US postage included. Please take a look at and, if you think it would be of interest, post it in the newsletter. I will not charge members I have exchanged with. Leroy Simon retains copyrights to images, but permission is given for use to promote sale or exchange of specimens or livestock.
"Good luck in the New Year."
Email Leroy Simon directly to make arrangements. Leroy has been an outstanding contributor to the WLSS over the years. His images are outstanding.
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Antistathmoptera daltonae rectangulata, male, Quiterajo Reserve, Cabo Delgado Reserve, northeastern Mozambique,
December 3, 2008, collected by Jean-Yves Rasplus with friends Nicolau Madogolele and
Michel Martinez; (11°49'59"S - 40°21'36.64"E.
I have posted a special note in Bill's Articles section for those of you shipping naked pupae (pupae without cocoons) whether they be Sphingidae, Ceratocampinae or butterflies. Special care needs to be taken with these pupae to ensure they are not damaged in transit. Pupae should not be packed so there is any pressure upon them that might cause compaction, but on the other hand the entire shipping box should be filled so there is no potential for box contents to be jostled during shipping/handling.
When I ship individual orders for butterflies or Sphingidae or Ceratocampinae pupae, I actually take the time to indiviually wrap each pupa (except for smaller butterfly pupae which are often deposited between two strips of cotton) in a single sheet of toilet tissue. I put each pupa in the corner of a full, half or quarter sheet of tissue so pupa is perpendicular to the diagonal of the tissue sheet, and I roll the sheet with pupa enclosed so that I have what looks like a piece of wrapped English toffee once the moistened ends are twisted shut.
Anywhere from five to ten such wrapped pupae are then wrapped together in several sheets of paper towel or toilet tissue. Bulk wraps are then fitted snugly in the shipping box and any empty spaces are filled with styrofoam peanuts, bubble pack or crumpled up newspaper (don't use confetti). Over the years I have received packages that were not treated properly during packing, and pupae sometimes arrive in a damaged state. YOU DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT NAKED PUPAE, OR EVEN COCOONS, TO BE BOUNCING AROUND IN THE SHIPPING BOX DURING TRANSIT.
I have added some images of pupae received by Bonnie that were not properly packed and were damaged in transit. Bonnie inspects all incoming pupae and cocoons and only reships those that are healthy.
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Norm Smith via Art Gilbert has sent me many images of spread specimens from Belize. I have been updating the Belize species pages with images and data. One especially interesting image is that of a very yellow Automeris tridens female. The reddish orange has either been sun-bleached from the hindwing or the specimen is a very yellow aberration. Also quite interesting is a very small specimen that I have identified and placed as Automeris montezuma. The size is a better match for A. pallidior, but the abdomen is quite red, not black as would be expected in the smaller pallidior.
I have confirmed Norm's id of Pseudodirphia mexicana from Las Cuevas, Cayo, Belize. This species was not previously listed in Belize. I am also awaiting a larger image of a female Leucanella acutissima, also from Las Cuevas. The female was not previously depicted on WLSS.
The receipt of images and data for Belize has inspired me to update the Belize page with a topography map. I have also made some more interpolations.
It is interesting to see how elevation influences the species found in a particular area. Understandably, the consistently low-lying departments generally have fewer species than those departments with a more diversified topography.
I am finding the same as I work through the Bolivian species, and have also posted a topography map for Bolivia to the more enhanced version of WLSS.
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Gus A. Rentfro has sent me images of live Dysdaemonia boreas and live Eacles imperialis quintanensis from Puerto Morelos, Qunitana Roo, Mexico. It is the first time a live quintanensis has been depicted on the WLSS. Gus has also sent from the same area a brigth yellow imperialis subspecies that I would declare as E. i. decoris. This perhaps presents some problems with the International Code and two subspecies from the same immediate area. I have posted images of "both subspecies" with comments on the quintanensis page.
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Nudaurelia wahlbergii final instars on sweetgum, courtesy of Mark Lasko.
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Alan Marson writes, November 18, 2009, "This summer I reared some Automeris zugana from Ecuador. On hatching the larvae accepted Oak (Quercus robur) but soon started dying and weren't looking very healthy. I offered them everything that I could think of from my garden and they switched to Buckthorn (Rhamnus). They thrived on it, and I reared the survivors to cocoons with no problems."
Alan has sent beautiful images of live male and female and fifth instar larva. It is the first time the female of this species has been depicted live on WLSS.
Automeris zugana female, reared on Rhamnus, Ecuador, courtesy of Alan Marson.
Nigel Venters has sent many images of spread (recto and verso) images of Saturniidae he has collected in Tucuman and Jujuy provinces in northern Argentina. I have updated the provincial checklists and have posted most of the images, including third instar larvae of Rothschildia condor (first time larvae of this species depicted on WLSS). Nigel indicates they accept both oak and privet. We hope he is succcessful in rearing them through.
Some images have been forwarded to Luigi Racheli, Stefan Naumann and Carlos Mielke for additional study. Once all the identifications have been confirmed, images will be posted. Several are new to Jujuy, and at least one to three may be undecribed species/subspecies.
See Rothschildia aurota, Psilopygida crispula, Adeloneivaia sabulosa, now confirmed and posted. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am going to begin a section on Saturniidae parasites, parasitoids, and predators (all kinds: birds, lizards (reptiles), rodents, amphibians, mammals, mollusks (pretty sure slugs eat pupae), spiders, insects, microorganisms (viruses, fungi, bacteria) etc.). Any electronic images that you can send and experiences that you can relate would be much appreciated. I will also try to find and post best remedies to problems created by these "pests" so anything you can share that might help others would be appreciated. I will add to this section (in Bill's Articles) as pictures and info arrive.
Richard Wasson has sent me some pictures of Cotesia electrae on Hemileuca eglanterina. Richard also provides some obervations which I have included in the write up in Bill's Articles section, linked from Predators, Parasitoids and Pathogens article.
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Sphingidae Express
Nigel venters has sent me many images, recto and verso, of Sphingidae from Tucuman and Jujuy provinces in northern Argentina. Data and images have been added to respective files. For the first time a live Xylophanes schreiteri female is depicted on Sphingidae of the Americas website.
Ezequiel Nunez Bustos has sent me a series of beautiful images of live moths from Osununu Private Reserve, Misiones Province, Argentina, from a November 24 collecting trip: Agrius cingulata, Callionima innus, Callionima parce, Erinnyis alope, Xylophanes loelia, Xylophanes pluto, Xylophanes tersa.
He also sends this image of an unidentified larva from Campo Ramon, Misiones, Argentina. Help would be appreciated.
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WLSS Special Edition: I am currently working on checklists for Departments in Bolivia and hope to have them completed by November 21.
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Arctiidae Art
Kirby Wolfe indicates he will be sending me many electronic images of Arctiidae from Costa Rica. I will shortly begin construction of a worldwide Arctiidae site. Those who wish to contribute images of adults and/or larvae or any other stages are welcome to do so. All images that I use remain the property of respective photographers.
I am working on creating the text files and orgainizing names at this stage. It will probalby be after Christmas that I do first posting.
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Catocala Capers
I continue to work on the state by state checklists and have them about 2/3 completed now.
Tim Taylor continues to send a great number of images from Saskatchewan, and although ids are difficult, I think the effort will pay off in the long run through the identification of consistent, reliable characters for many of the look-alike species. Tim is sending both recto and verso images with data, and often provides a series of specimens for comparison.
Clark Thompson has given me permission to post his images of C. Mcdunnoughi (not previously depicted) and C. andromache from California.
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Caterpillars Too!, a North American butterfly website:
I have started work on thumbnail checklists for each state and will soon have North Carolina completed and will use that state as a template to move north, south and west. Thumbnail checklists for respective counties will be created from the state thumbnail checklists by using colour background for each species, confirmed or likely found in each county.
Thumbnail pictoral checklists of both Sphingidae adults and larvae for respective counties will be posted via links from each personal homepage in Caterpillars Too! Thumbnail pictoral checklists from Catocala adults for respective states will be posted via similar links.
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A new Coleoptera (Beetles) page is being created.
This page will be resricted to those members of WLSS who have an interest in Coleoptera (Beetles) and who are willing to have their email addresses posted there for correspondence, limited to the Coleoptera family.
This list will not be available through any search engines and will not be linked by me from any of my websites. Instead, those members who register (no charge) will be directed to an unlisted URL.
Members whose names appear on this list have agreed to use the contact information solely for the purpose of furthering their interests in Coleoptera.
Members have also agreed that they will neither post this list/page nor divulge its contents nor share its contents with others.
To have your name and email contact information posted on the Coleoptera page, send email to Bill Oehlke, indicating you agree to terms above.
N.B. This is note a Coleoptera site, just a listing of contact info for WLSS members with an interest in Coleoptera.
Two new names have been added to the Coleoptera page as of January 16, 2009.
There are also quite a few members interested in Sphingidae, so I will post special Sphingidae page under same conditions. I am also considering an African Sphingidae section if there is sufficient interest and those who can supply high quality images.
A Catocala page will also be posted.
If you wish to have your name, location, interests and email posted on the Coleoptera, Sphingidae or Catocala contacts page, please let me know.
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