June 16 to July 15, 2018
Hi All,
Please visit May or June newsletters for egg pricelists and ordering instructions.
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For future reference regarding egg availability times, the following might be useful: 2018 shipping dates.
We began shipping luna eggs on March 20 from Alabama (two orders). A second batch of luna egg orders was shipped March 29 (four orders); more luna April 11, also from Alabama. Luna eggs shipped from North Carolina May 8; May 15; May 23-June 1 from Ohio. June 14 Ohio; June 16 Alabama
We shipped first generation luna cocoons from Alabama May 8-20, with more possible near end of May: many shipped late May to early June.
Antheraea polyphemus shipped from Alabama April 24; from North Carolina May 15; Ohio May 31-June 1; New York June 3, June 17; Ohio June 10
Automeris io from Virginia, June 6; Ohio June 12
Callosamia angulifera from Maryland; June 18
Callosamia promethea from Ohio, May 23; June 7; June 16
Callosamia securifera from Alabama, June 12
Citheronia regalis from Maryland, June 7-9; June 20
Eacles imperialis shipped from Alabama May 16; June 7; June 18
Hyalophora cecropia eggs are available from Alabama as of April 5; April 14; Ohio May 30.

Samia cynthia eggs are available from Alabama as of April 2.
Quite often during the summer months we have non-diapausing Actias luna and Antheraea polyphemus cocoons from the more southerly states. We also often have pupae of Heraclides cresphontes, the giant swallowtail, for shiping during the summer.
I also intend to purchase large quantities of cocoons and pupae of local (North American) Saturniidae and possibly Sphingidae in the fall. If you would like to become a supplier of fall livestock, please send me an email.
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Gary Lane has successfully reared Actias isis on staghorn sumac, and Gary has sent a nice picture of golden, healthy cocoons, now posted on the isis file.
Gary has also had success rearing Antherina suraka on staghorn sumac. I have posted a fifth instar larva and cocoons on the suraka page.
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Currently I am very busy with new submissions from Toni Kasiske in Pasco, Peru. I am working on the Periga now.
I am also busy trying to sort out Actias species from Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East, based on a publication by Vadim V. Zolotuhin.
Sorting these out is quite time consuming, but I hope by end of May to have both the Peru Periga and the Japanese, Korean, far eastern Russian and far eastern Chinese Actias comparison tables posted.
I received a very nice series of all instars of Actias gnoma, courtesy of Dean Rudman, and they should be posted by June 15.
Dean has now sent me a very nice image of a live male gnoma. First time a live male gnoma is depicted on WLSS.
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Sphingidae Express
Matthew J. Campbell has sent me images of instars 1, 2 and 3 of Proserpinus clarkiae larvae feeding on Epilobium (new host plant). Images have been posted to clarkiae file. Fourth instar available as of June 19.
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Catocala Capers
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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 $1.25 (2018 rate) 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 or Maine return address on the shipping box. Do not send payment to the New Jersey or Maine address; send it to name and address above please.
This website has been created and is maintained by Bill Oehlke without government or institutional financial assistance. All expenses, ie., text reference support material, webspace rental from Bizland and 1&1, computer repairs/replacements, backups systems, software for image adjustments (Adobe Photoshop; L-View), ftp software, anti-virus protection, scanner, etc. are my own. The one-time-life-time membership fee that is charged at the time of the registration covers most of those expenses.
I very much appreciate all the many images that have been sent to me, or of which I have been granted permission to copy and post from other websites. All images on this site remain the property of respective photographers.
If you would like to contribute to the maintenance of this website by sending a contribution to
Bill Oehlke
Box 476
155 Peardon Road
Montague, Prince Edward Island, C0A1R0
Canada
your donation would be much appreciated and would be used for
1) paying for webspace rental;
2) paying for computer maintenance and software upgrades;
3) purchases of additional text reference material (journals and books) in an effort to stay current with new species;

I also hope to expand the North American Catocala site as well as the Sphingidae of the Americas site, to worldwide sites, and that will require additional funds for reference materials, etc. Both of those sites are linked from your WLSS homepage.
If you are mailing a check from USA, please use $1.25 postage (2018 rate). Donations can also be made through Paypal via the button below.
Donations are not required to maintain your standing as a WLSS member, nor do they gain you any preferencial treatment with regard to livestock and/or supplies (sleeves), compared to other WLSS members. All WLSS members get first crack at my annual offerings and get an approximate discount of 10% as compared to non-members.
I began taking cocoons out of cold storage around May 13. I would take out a couple of cocoons of different species every other night, starting with just luna and polyphemus for May 13 and 15. For the most part cocoons were kept indoors as we had a cool wet spring. I would move cages outdoors if it was warmer and sunnier, but outdoor housing did not start until after June 1. It was warm and sunny June 6-7 and first eclosions occurred on June 7
Male and female luna eclosed June 7 and female paired with wild male, June 7
Female polyphemus eclosed June 8; did not pair on 8th, was not paired at midnight June 9, but paired after 2:30am June 10.
Male polyphemus eclosed June 10.
Male and female polyphemus eclosed June 12; female paired that night with fly in wild males.
Male luna and male promethea and female colombia eclosed June 13; columbia female paired morning of June 14 before 5:00 with wild male.
Two male luna and one female luna eclosed within about ten minutes of each other between 10:00-11:00 am June 14, female luna paired that night, June 14.
Later night of June 14 a female poly eclosed and a male hybrid cec m x col f eclosed, looking like a large male columbia. It was raining and cool and late so I did not put the female poly out, supposed to be warmer day and warmer drier night, June 15, so I will put her out tonight along with any other females that eclose today. Female poly paired June 15.
June 16-18. Three female luna and one male luna eclosed. One male and two female hybrids eclosed. Female cecropia eclosed on 17th but did not call in a mate. One female columbia eclosed June 18, but it rqanied hard all night, so for tonight June 19 I should have at least three female luna, one female cecropia and one female columbia to mate plus whatever emerges today. Currently (10:30 am) overcast with light drizzle. It is supposed to be sunny and warmer this afternoon with night time temps around 52F so there should be wild males flying tonight.
June 19. A male polyphemus emerged.

I will likely be in Nova Scotia when many of my eggs are hatching. Today I put luna eggs from the same female in three different sleeves. The eggs are still affixed to the insides of sandwich sized, brown paper, lunch bags. I poke a hole in the bottom of each brown paper bag and insert the tip of an upright branch through the hole. When the larvae hatch from the eggs, they can clmb onto the foliage and twig still inside the paper bag and are also free to wander to other qareas inside the sleeve. I move my females to a fresh bag every night so there are not so many eggs in each bag. I usually only use the paper bag method if I am pressed for time or will be away when it is anticipated larvae will be hatching.
If I am going to be home when eggs will be hatching, I usually move eggs to a plastic tub for incubation and move an appropriate number of hatchlings to foliage inside another sandwich sized plastic tub. Later that same afternoon or the next day, I place the twig with hatchlings on a branch inside a sleeve. I usually have a pretty good idea how many hatchlings I can get to cocoon stage without having to move the sleeve. Most of my rearing is done in sleeves twelve feet long with a twelve foot circumference.

I do usually ask donors if they have any special requests for information on WLSS, and I try to accomodate when appropriate or within my ability to do so.