December 16, 2011 - January 15, 2012
Hi All,
Happy holidays. Later today I'll be erecting the Christmas tree, putting the lights up outside the house, and bringing in some more firewood. Time flies.
I am taking orders for cocoons and pupae and still have a nice inventory of the species listed below.
Please be sure to includes species, quantities, your shipping address and method of payment in any enquiries/requests that you send to me at Bill Oehlke.
January 2012 specials
I have extra overwintering promethea and cecropia cocoons available at $4.00 US and $6.00 US, respectively. Also available are overwintering Antheraea polyphemus at $4.50, Automeris io at $4.50; Eacles imperialis sold in pairs at $14.00/pair. Papilio troilus (spicebush swallowtails) at $4.00/pupa. One shipping and handling fee of $8.00 for shipments to US destinations. More for S & H to overseas countries. Cocoons to be shipped from New Hampshire after receipt of payment by personal check or Paypal. Might be getting more lunas soon?? Always get confirmation of availability before sending payment.
Regular prices after January 1 -31 sale:
The following species are now available for fall and winter sales, while supplies last, to US and overseas destinations:
Actias luna, $4.50, not currently available
Antheraea polyphemus, $4.75
Automeris io, $4.50
Callosamia promethea, $4.50
Eacles imperialis, $16.00/pair
Hyalophora cecropia, $6.50
Hyalophora columbia gloveri, $6.50
Samia cynthia are not available at this time, but check in periodically here (Mothly Newsletters), or advise by email that you want them, as they are expected later in the season, but no guarantees.
Pupae of the following butterfly species are also available:
Papilio (Pterourus) troilus, spicebush swallowtail, $4.25
All parcels to US destinations will be $8.00 for S & H whether you order a single item or fifty items, etc. S & H for overseas orders will depend upon size of order and location. Do not send payment until your request has been confirmed. When making a request, please be sure to include all of the following:
1) your complete name and shipping address
2) list of species and quantities desired
3) email address in text of message to me
4) specify your planned method of payment:
a) personal check, preferred for all US orders
b) International bank or postal money order in US funds
c) Paypal in US dollars which will include approximate increase in costs by 7% to cover 4% Paypal transaction fee and 3% currency conversion fee.
All orders to US destinations will be shipped either from New Hampshire from November until very early spring while supplies last.
If you have a surplus of overwintering livestock of North American Saturniidae species that you would be willing to sell to me in bulk at wholesale prices, please let me know, Bill Oehlke.
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Please note: I reside in Canada at the following address and payment for Saturniidae livestock (eggs, cocoons, pupae) and/or sleeves must be sent to me only at this address:
Bill Oehlke
Box 476
155 Peardon Road
Montague, Prince Edward Island, C0A 1R0
Canada
Postage from USA to Canada is $0.79 so please use that amount on your envelope with your payment.
If you are in US and order cocoons or pupae from me this fall or winter, you will probably see a New Jersey return address on the shipping box. Do not send payment to the New Jersey address; send it to name and address above please.
In Canada this year I only have the following still available:
Antheraea polyphemus at $4.75 and Actias luna at $4.50, plus S & H plus 5% GST.

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Frank Meister recently sent me copies of his book, A Guide to the Rearing of Tropical Silk Moths. It is available directly through Frank at (U.S. $ 53.00) via email at FMeister66@gmx.de. The book is in German with a good English translation. All of the newly described tropical Saturniidae species (Brechlin and Meister) from 2008-2010, and most of the ones from 2011 are listed in the book, although foodplants are still unknown for many of the new species.
There is a complete description of the book at www.pfeil-verlag.de.
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I have been quite busy of late updating WLSS genera lists with all the new species designations, and have almost completed the Hemileucinae genera. Then I wil work on the other subfamilies. I have just sent 289.00 Euros to Frank in Germany to order copies of all (7 issues) the Entomosatsphingia publications for 2010 and 2011. many of the newly described species are features in those publications. I will not be posting any pictures from the journals, but I will use the images to write my own descriptions, and will post those (my own) descriptions to the website. I am quite sure that many of the Saturniidae currently depicted on WLSS are examples of the newly described speices, and I will make changes over time.
Quite by accident I stumbled upon the Global Mirror System of DNA Barcoding Analysis which provides date and location data for many of the newly described species (hundreds of them). I have been incorporating that data into the new species files. I feel the data and descriptions, (as well as the images in the journals) will be very helpful in determining any new image submissions to WLSS. I am sure quite a few of you already have the newly described/named species in your collections.
Many thanks to all those who have contributed images and data in the past, and to those who also make financial contributions or pay voluntary dues. That money has enabled me to make purchases of good Saturniidae and Sphingidae reference material.
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Also quite by accident I encountered a webpage belonging to Christopher Prevett. He has been posting images and data for Saturniidae from Uruguay, and already I have made some updates to the Uruguay page.
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I will shortly be selecting the winners of the 2011 Photography Contests (larva and adult moth), and hope to have the results posted very soon.
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Ben Trott recently sent me this very nice photo of a mature Antheraea polyphemus larva from British Columbia, Canada.

Antheraea polyphemus fifth instar, British Columbia, Canada,
courtesy of Ben Trott.
Ben is a real Sphingidae enthusiast and has offered to provide many Sphingidae images from Europe in the new year. He is currently travelling in the Americas and has recently sent some Sphingidae images from Belize, including an images of Enyo cavifer pupae, not previously depicted on Sphingidae of the Americas website.
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Rod Millar has just sent some beautiful photos, using a technique he refers to as focus-stacking. Rob writes, "Each picture is the composite of as many as 20 or 30 or so individual photos each taken at a slightly different focus. The results can be stunning. Every part of the subject is in focus no matter the orientation of the subject."

Citheronia sepulcralis third instar, stacked photo, courtesy of Rod Millar.
I am posting the other images Rod has sent to the Citheronnia regalis, Eupackardia calleta, Hyalophora cecropia, Hyalophora columbia gloveri and Samia cynthia pages, where they will be available via the links provided. Rob has also sent "stacked photos" of larvae of an Hyalophora cecropia x Hyalophora columbia gloveri hybridization.
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Sphingidae Express

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