Hi All,
Happy Mothers' day to all of you who are mothers.
I am now taking orders for eggs. Chuckle!
Antheraea polyphemus and Callosamia promethea eggs can be shipped tomorrow (May 14) in advance of payment. Get back to me right away if you want some. Prices: $11.00 for first dozen; $15.00 for two dozen, $19.00 for three dozen. Add $1.00 for each additional dozen of polyphemus after three dozen. These eggs should produce moths in mid-late July to early August.
Take advantage of the great discounts on many species via the link at http://www.insectcompany.com/silkmoth/eggform2007.htm for what I hope will be a useful printable order form. These discount prices will be in effect for orders placed before the end of May.
Arizona species are again expected this season in late July.
Happy Moth-ers' day to the rest of you!
I saw my first butterfly of the season, a cabbage white on May 11 after five days of very nice weather. I planted carrots and spinach in the garden and hope we don't get any more hard frosts. The carrots I can cover as I planted them in a large (8' x 8' x 12') flight cage for rearing black swallowtails.
I took two polyphemus cocoons out of cold storage May 10 and wrote that date on them with a red marker. They haven't gone into an emergence cage and are sitting in a plastic tub on the kitchen shelf. The house is relatively cool (mid to low 60's). If the warm weather continues and holds through the nights, I will put those cocoons and others in outdoor cages.
My sympathy to all those in the United States who have been experiencing flooding, tornadoes, and drought related fires.
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Jeff Markus has just advised me of a great butterfly and moth website for Kentucky that he and others have been developing.
Jeff writes, "If you want up to date records on the distribution of any butterfly or moth species from Kentucky, they are now available.
Visit http://www.kybutterfly.net
Jeff writes, "If you want up to date records on the distribution of any butterfly or moth species from Kentucky, they are now available.
I will be using the using the site to update the WLSS maps for Kentucky and to update Catocala, Sphingidae and butterfly websites.
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New member Reinhard Foerster of Misiones, Argentina, has just sent me some interesting images of Copaxa species from his area. He runs a butterfly and moth farm and has also provided images of Molippa larva (I think simillima), Citheronia larva (I think brissottii), Automeris larvae (I am very confident naranja as well as a female A. naranja. He also has sent images of some very nice Rothschildia from his area. I have linked a page for him from the Rothschildia aurota speculifera page. The linked page has his contact info, including email. It currently shows some of the Copaxa for which I will seek additional help from Kirby Wolfe, Bernhard Wenczel, Eurides Furtado and Carlos Mielke.
Kirby and Carlos have confirmed Reinhard has both Copaxa flavina and Copaxa flavorunnea in Misiones. Reinhard offers cocoons but not eggs. See his contact info from the flavina and flavobrunnea pages.
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Matt Curtis writes (April 19), "I thought I’d just send you a quick field note on Hyalophera c. gloveri. A friend in Payson, Arizona, put out a trap with a female on March 25 about 6 miles out of Payson and attracted 86 males in one night. He went out of town for a trip and left his trap and cocoons with me to try out, and, sure enough, I put it out 9 miles west of Prescott on April 5 and attracted 52 males. On April 7 my wife and I went camping a couple of miles from the first location and used the female and lights to see what showed up. No saturnids showed until 2:45AM, then males arrived steadily until after sunrise, approximately 50. Temperatures were between 46-50F. This is the same area where I collected Hemileuca diana last October and found Hemileuca neumogeni egg rings in January. I sent a couple of photos last fall of this area. It is around 5450’ elevation in rolling hills covered with Cercocarpus, Q. turbinella and Q. emoryi, Rhus trilobata, Ceanothus greggii, acacia, and manzanita, with scattered pinyon pine-juniper. I’ll check back in May for Automeris pamina, which I know are in the area also. What next? A. oculea?"
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April Flaherty has recently contacted me and will shortly become a member of the WLSS. She is "an artist, a member of The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, American Society of Botanical Artists, and a teacher at the New York Botanical Gardens, in Bronx, New York."
She writes, "This fall, I will be teaching a class in drawing caterpillars, a first for the Garden!"
Many of you may be interested in the class and in the first two shows of the year.
"The first is Butterflies, Moths and Pollinating Insects of the East Coast. Forty-two artists of the Greater New York chapter of The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators have contributed their talents to bring you an introduction to the life cycles of some of our favorite butterflies and moths. The goal of this project was to illustrate as many life cycles as possible, from egg, to caterpillar, to pupa, to final Lepidoptera, as well as the food source for the caterpillar, and the nectar source for the butterfly. Each artist chose one species to represent, so each and every piece is unique not only in content, but in subject and style.
"The opening reception for this show is May 19th, from 1-5 p.m. at the Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut. It will run until June 22nd.
"The second show is at Gallery Yellow, in Cross River, New York. It is a show which features the teachers and exceptional students from the New York Botanical Garden’s Art and Illustration program.
"The opening reception for this show is May 19th, from 5-8 p.m. and will run through July 19th. More info can be found at www.galleryyellow.com."
One of April's prints is now on site at April Flaherty.
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Your individualized WLSS homepage has been updated to include many shortcuts to United States State checklists and country checklists for Central and South America.
Two new sections are also being added:
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.
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Dr. Anatolij Kulak of Belarus has sent some beautiful images of live moths of Saturnia pavonia, Automeris io, Epiphora bauhiniae.
I have added them to the photography section.
Dr. Kulak has also sent images of hybrids male and female of a male Epiphora bauhiniae x female Epiphora mythimnia. Images on display in the hybrid section.
It will be interesting to see other Epiphora hybrids. I am quite impressed with similarities between members of this genus and with the North American Hyalophora. Perhaps someday we will see hybrids between those two genera.
Dr. Kulak reports the hybrid pairing was done by hand.
Anatolij has also sent an image of a beautiful male Saturnia (Rinaca) simla, also known as Caligula simla.
He has sent a beautiful male Actias dubernardi May 1. A female arrived on May 10.
Male which had been previously listed as Gynanisa maja has now been corrected to subspecies Gynanisa maja terrali based on a female image with indications the moths are from Kenya.
Anatolij has also sent a beautiful female Actias luna spring form with the burgundy red outer margin.
Larval images of first instar Caligula simla, third instar Rhodinia newara (not previously posted on WLSS) and Loepa obscuromarginata fourth instar have been posted, some with new foodplant listings.
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Rainer Plontke writes, "John V. Irion, was reading your sites. He got also cocoons from "ricilu" (ricini (m) x luzonica (f)). We wrote, we couldn't get a fertile pairing of ricilu X ricilu. However, John was successful. He got pupae of ricilu X ricilu = (ricilu)˛ =2-ricilu. He had a generous kindness and send me cocoons from 2-ricilu. And now, at me the moths hatched again - and gave two fertile pairings!! That means (ricilu)˛ X (ricilu)˛ = (ricilu)4 = 4-ricilu!
"As usual I took photos from the caterpillars and the hatched moths. Yesterday John indicated I should send all the pictures to Bill. So I have done so. Images are now posted in the hybrid section.
A question I had, 'where does the original "ricini" come from ??' was answered by my friend Mario Ioppolo from Italy, Tremestieri Etneo (CT), from the isle Sizilia. The world is a village!"
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I have posted what I believe is a Saturnia (Eriogyna) cognata male from Beijing, China. The moth has pinkish tones to it. Dr. Stefan Naumann indicates he has seen similar colouration in other species from this group and in cognata from Vietnam.
Dr. Naumann has also confirmed a Cricula trifenestrata javana female from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. He indicates Cricula elaezia from the same area are a dark ruby red.
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I have begun to receive some images and great data from Robert Lehman who operates an insect museum in La Ceiba, Honduras. I believe a great many Saturniidae from Honduras will be placed in additional departments. I have already posted some of the new data and images to Rothschildia orizaba and Rothschilida lebeau aroma pages.
Robert writes, "The museum is a one person operation for educational and tourism purposes. I am a retired teacher that collected insects in Honduras for over 30 years. A small collection is in Ohio at my brother´s place and the second collection of moths and butterflies of Honduras (4300 spread and 4000 in envelopes) is in the Smithsonian which I donated to them in 1987. About 14 years ago I started all over.
"Do you have access to the Journal of the Lepidopterists´Society Vol 25, No. 2, 19 May 1971 pp. 150 - 152? If not I will send you a reprint of the article "Some Sphingidae of Honduras" which I did when I was a grad student at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The 34 species were identified by Mr. william E. Sieker."
Robert's museum contact information is on his credits page, linked from the Rothschildia lebeau aroma page.
Some of you may wish to travel to Honduras.
I have added some additional species, with data, to the Arsenurinae section of the Honduras page.
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Wayne Whaley has sent images of spread male Nudaurelia krucki. Eggs from the pairing have been shared with a number of experienced breeders. Hope many will have success. Wayne reports the first instar larvae are orange in color and are accepting Rhus laurina, Rhus triloba (Laurel Sumac and Squaw Brush) and Prunus armeniaca (Apricot). Wayne has sent a beautiful image of gregarious first instar larvae.
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Johnny Marchant sent an image of a Saturnia pavonia egg ring. I have posted the image to the S. pavonia file and updated the text.
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Martin Jagelka has sent a beautiful image of a live female Saturnia (Rinaca) anna female.
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I have updated Montana page with a relief map and images and comments/observations from non-member Patrick White concerning northwestern Hyalophora columbia gloveri larvae. Patrick reports different larval color patterns based on host plant. Adult moths also seem influenced, colour-wise, based on larval hosts. I am not sure if comments are based on many observations or from a long history of such observations.
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Montreal Insect Show 2007
October 20th-21 2007, from 9 am to 5 pm
College de Maisonneuve, 3800 Sherbrooke East, Montreal
(Located one corner from the Olympic Stadium and the Montreal Insectarium)
Contact Yves-Pascal Dion at info@insect-trade.com
www.insect-trade.com
Yves-Pascal Dion has just sent me a series of Bunaeopsis images from Burkina Faso. Many of the species he has sent are listed by Thierry Bouyer in his 1999 Catalogue of African Saturniidae as "incertae sedis" and Thierry has had a look at the specimens and feels they may all be variations of the same species. Much work needs to be done on the Saturniidae, especially Bunaeopsis from Burkina Faso. None-the-less I have posted images to Bunaeopsis dido, elisa, fenestricula and nigericola files which I will add to the Bunaeopsis genus list as "incertae sedis."
Yves-Pascal also sends images of male and female Lobobunaea phaeax which Thierry equates with Lobobunaea christyi resnoctuae. I will shortly update the Lobobunaea genus file to include all the synonyms listed by Thierry.
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Sphingidae Express
Thanks to Jean Haxaire for making several corrections to the Manduca species files. Jean writes, "The Manduca diffissa tropicalis (Nicaragua, Michel Laguerre) is M. occulta. The Manduca vestalis (Frederik Goussey) is Manduca florestan. Manduca lucetius the first picture is Manduca reducta; Manduca andicola you show a Manduca lefeburii; Manduca neglecta except my specimens, all the others are M. schausi.
It is difficult to id many of the similar species. The corrections posted above should in no way be interpreted as criticisms of those who sent images. I appreciate their contributions. I have made the changes and moved the images as per Jean's diagnoses.
Joe Garris of Sussex, New Jersey, reports larvae of Sphinx eremitus also feed on Collinsonia canadensis (Canada Horsebalm, Richweed, Hardhack, Heal-All, Horseweed), and he indicates "By the way, you can rear S. eremitus on the houseplant, Coleus.
"When I was running short of fresh Collinsonia one day, it dawned on me that Coleus is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) (square stem, flowers, etc.). The caterpillars devoured it. Since my wife had lots of Coleus growing in big pots on the deck, I never fed them anything else after that."
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Arctiidae Art
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Catocala Capers
Harry King has sent very nice images of a Catocala illecta larva from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The larva is ready to pupate and had been feeding on honey locust.
Wayne Whaley is rearing Catocala jessica in Utah and indicates he will send larval and adult images later in the year.
Wayne has sent some great images which are now up. Wayne reports this species readily lays eggs in brown paper bags, especially if they have been crumpled up.
Rick Gillmore of Florida recently visited the Catocala website and sent the following email. I have updated pages accordingly.
"In your site you show fotos of C. cara carissima including a fifth instar larva. Then you write that the foodplant is not known. I have a foto of a fifth instar larva found on willow in Florida by Steve Roman. The info was published in the Southern Lepidopterists' News in the seventies.
"The foto of the larva in your site appears to be resting on a willow twig.
"On the C. consors page you mention that this moth is down to Florida. It is very common in Seminole, Orange, and Citrus counties in central Florida. The larvae is found on hickory trees, not Amorpha fructicosa. In fact, I serious doubt that C. consors larvae feed on Amorpha fructicosa.
"C. gracilis is a blueberry feeder....oak is wrong.
"C. marmorata larvae are poplar and willow feeders? Please send prooof, since my friends and I have not found anyone who has actually found C. marmorata larvae on any foodplant in the the "wild". John Peacock reared it in the "lab" from ova, but has never found the larvae on trees.
"C. orba is a hawthorn feeder. I am the first person to rear C. orba. C. miranda, C. grisatra and C. louiseae. All this was published in the Southern Lepidopterists News, again in the seventies. C.orba, C. miranda and C. grisatra are all hawthorn feeders, while C. louiseae is a blueberry feeder.
"Jeff Slotten has the first person (that I know) to rear C. sappho. He got eggs, and, when the larvae emerged, they were reared on hickory, not pecan. I saw pecan mentioned as a possible hostplant in an agriculture book.
"C. sordida is a blueberry feeder, not a celtis feeder. The following Catocala species are only blueberry feeders: C. andromedae, C. gracilis, C. sordida and C. louiseae.
"I beat larvae off trees and bushes to rear them. Yes, I do collect adults. I have fifty Cornell drawers of just Catocala specimens."
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Caterpillars Too!, a North American butterfly website.
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