April 16 to May 16

Hi All,

As of March 23 I am now sold out of all overwintering stock with final orders to be shipped March 30. Done!

Weather is warming here but we still have 2-3 feet of snow in many areas, even after heavy rains, April 23-24.

As of May 12 I still have not taken any cocoons or pupae out of cold storage. Most of the snow has melted here, but there are still some patches on north facing slopes, sheltered by trees and brush. It is supposed to warm considerably for the remainder of the week so I probably will start taking stock out on Friday, May 13:

May 13: 3 luna; 2 polyphemus; 1 cecropia
May 15: 3 luna; 2 polyphemus; 1 cecropia; 1 columbia
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Many thanks to Lonnie Huffman who sends this beautiful image of Actias luna, spring form.

Actias luna, Rock Hill, York County, South Carolina,
April 24, 2015, courtesy of Lonnie Huffman.

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I am now taking orders for rearing sleeves. If you are thinking of doing any rearing outdoors, now would be the time to order sleeves before I get too busy with my own rearing.

Visit 2015 Egg Prices to see what is expected for spring and summer of 2015 in way of eggs, and also sizes and prices for sleeves.

If any of you would like to become an egg shipping partners for 2015, please send me an email, indicating what Saturniidae species you anticipate having and when. I am also looking for additional sources of overwintering Saturniidae cocoons and pupae as well as overwintering swallowtail pupae.

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To assist us all with an idea of when eggs become available in any given year, the following information is being recorded:
Actias luna eggs shipped from North Carolina, April 1; from Alabama, April 2.
Antheraea polyphemus shipped from both Alabama and North Carolina, April 14, Alabama May 8; Alabama May 15.
Automeris io shipped from Alabama, May 15 wild caught female
Callosamia promethea shipped from North Carolina, April 11; May 4 Virginia.
Hyalophora cecropia eggs shipped from Alabama, April 4; May 14 North Carolina.

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I remain very busy with creation of an alternate WLSS site on a location that will not require a login or password. The site is still a private site and members are expected to keep access confidential.

I am also streamlining the opening page to make it more user friendly (easier to find things). The renaming and relinking of the thousands of files is taking longer than I anticipated, but I still hope to have the new location site fully operational by end of March 2015, now April.

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Jaroslav Sterba sends a series of beautiful photos of an Archaeoattacus staudingeri male from Gunung Alab, Sabah, Malaysia: Borneo, 13.4.2015.

Archaeoattacus staudingeri male, Gunung Alab, Sabah, Borneo,
April 13, 2015, courtesy of Jaroslav Sterba.

I have posted this images and a couple of verso shots to the staudingeri file.

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For the first time on WLSS, larvae of Citheronia andina are posted. Leroy Simon has sent images of third and fifth instars.

Citheronia andina fifth instar, courtesy of Leroy Simon.

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Carlos Marzano recently sent me the following image, indicating it as Leucanella aspera. Unfortunately the larva perished before spinning its cocoon. It appears quite different from the larval images provided by Ulf Drechsel. Maybe it is something else??

Leucanella aspera ?? fifth instar, Olivos, Misiones, Argentina,
April 2012, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

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Patrick White confirms a presence of Hemileuca nuttalli in a valley in the Gravelly Mountains in southwestern Montana: Madison County. He reports all four of the Montana Hemileuca species can be found in the same valley.

Patrick has also sent some updates to the Montana page, indicating that euryalus does not fly in Montana. Early records for euryalus in northwestern Montana are indicative of kasloensis in that region.

Patrick has also sent a series of beautiful images of Hyalophora columbia gloveri from Montana.

Hyalophora columbia gloveri male, Montana,
courtesy of Patrick White.

Patrick has also sent a series of beautiful images of Antheraea polyphemus from Montana.

Antheraeapolyphemus female, Montana,
courtesy of Patrick White.

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Inspired by images (Gamelia vanschaycki and Gamelia rindgei, sympatric in Shima, Junin, Peru), submitted to me by John Christensen, I have just created Gamelia Comparison plates/tables for Gamelia species found in Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, respectively. The tables should help me and others identify Gamelia species from those respective countries. I have moved quite a few existing images to other "new species" files, largely based on the new Gamelia species described by Brechlin & Meister, 2013. Here is one of the tables created for Ecuador. It features many images previously sent by Horst Kaech to new determinations which I think are valid. Links to similar tables from the other countries mentioned are at the bottom of the Gamelia genus file. I would very much like to expand the data base with additional images of Gamelia species, especially if you have data (precise location, elevation, date, wingspan) which I would like you to send with the images. I would also be great to have recto images for these moths.

Western Gamelia Species esmeraliettei: 36mm; 720m; HT Esmeraldas: Chuchuvi Ground colour is slate grey, almost black in the basal area and inner third of the median area. Apex is quite produced and very pointed. Very small reddish-orange cell dot, outlined in black. Am line vestigial at best. Pre-apical, slightly convex, double black pm line inwardly filled with grey meets inner margin about 1/5 of its distance from anal angle to body. Faint pre-apical orangey-brown band. denhezi: 33-36mm; 500-1000m; Ecuador: Canar; HT Colombia: Valle de Cauca Very similar to neidhoferi and pyrrhomelas but tends to be darker and flies at lower elevations than those two species. Lemaire's image of the male shows the hw pm band in a tighter wrap around the ocellus as it approaches the apex than in the image to the left. pyrrhomelas: 32-35mm; 1600-2800m; HT Santa Fe, Bogota, Colombia; Imbabura,; Pichincha; probably limited to west Andean slopes at high elevations in Colombia; Ecuador, and disjunct specimen from Barinas, Venezuela, referred to by Lemaire, is probably tamarae, lichyi or something undescribed. Pyrrhomelas (western slopes) & neidhoferi (eastern slopes) very similar: pm lines relatively close to outer margin. Pyrrhomelas seems to have more pink in marginal areas of wings. lojensis: 33-34mm; 2700m; HT Loja, Ecuador very similar to pyrrhomelas, but darker with less prominent apex. As in pyrrhomelas the forewing ocellus is a tiny black dot in a circle of dull beige-yellow, ringed in black with an outermost ring also of dull beige-yellow. The outer margin is only slightly convex, and the pm line is straight to slightly concave, meeting the inner margin 1/5 of its distance from the body. rudloffi: 21-24mm; 100-1460m; HT Colombia: Tolima; Cundinamarca; Choco??; Ecuador: Manabi; Esmeraldas; Imbabura; Pichincha Lemaire (Hemileucinae 2002) reports abasia on both sides of the Andes. He may be correct, but I suspect abasia is restricted to the Guayano-Amazon region, being replaced by very similar species, like rudloffi, etc., on the western slopes. Eastern Gamelia species abasia ??: Note that in abasia and paramartiniana, the forewing pm line is further removed from the outer margin than is the case with the other eastern species. Also note the lack of a black hindwing pm line in both abasia and paramartiniana. In the latter two species the line is orangey-brown, almost concolourouus, and it meets the hw costa closer to the apex instead of curving closer to the shape of the ocellus. paramartiniana: 25-30mm; 330-1400m HT Peru: San Martin: Mina de Sol and Rioja; Amazonas: Puente Nieva; Ecuador: Zamora-Chinchipe; Napo; Pastaza; Imbabura, Sucumbios, Orellana Very similar to abasia, and possibly replaces abasia on the eastern slopes of the Andes in northwestern Peru and north eastern Ecuador. sorry, no image available herbini: 600m; HT Morona-Santiago: near Mendez-Morona I have very little information on this moth, and have not seen an image of the dorsal surface of the wings. Please send image and/or info if you have same. kaechi: 30-35mm; 2150-2940m; HT Ecuador: Napo: Cosanga; Morona-Santiago Possibly replaces neidhoeferi at the higher elevations since Brechlin & Meister do not note them as sympatric. Pm lines are slightly further removed from the outer margin in kaechi. Forewing apex projects at slightly more of an upward angle. The cell mark is a dull grey-yellow dot, surrounded with a black ring, encased in an outer dull yellow-grey ring. Basal and inner half of median area to outer edge of cell mark are very dark grey but am line is present; outer half of median area is orange with lighter grey suffusions. neidhoeferi: : 29-34mm; 1600-2400m Ecuador: Sucumbios; Tungurahua; Azuay; Zamora Chinchipe; Napo; Morona-Santiago; probably Pastaza; Colombia: Tolima; Cundinamarca; Peru: Amazonas; San Martin; Junin; Cusco; Puno; HT Bolivia: Cochabamba; probably La Paz (WO?). I am not sure, but perhaps neidcuscoensis replaces neidhoferi on the eastern slopes from Cusco south at least to La Paz. rindgei: 29-35mm; 250-900m; Peru: San Martin (ESs), Huanuco, HT Junin, Cusco, Madre de Dios, Puno; Bolivia: Beni, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca; Ecuador: Sucumbios, Orellana, Tungurahua, Napo, Morona-Santiago. probably Pastaza; possibly western Venezuela?? Note characteristic large, oblong cell mark with orange center, outlined in black, outlined in greyish yellow, surround with a black oval, and more uniform "bright" dark brown basal and median areas. hollinensis: 34-35mm; 1070-1350m HT Ecuador: Napo: Rio Hollin; Pastaza: Puyo Forewing cell marking is a small reddish-orange dot, outlined in black. Basal area is very dark, almost black. Median area with pale pinkish-orange with generous dark grey suffusions. Post median area concolorous with median area but with less suffusion of grey. Apex, slightly produced, very pointed with pre-apical short yellow-brown bar. Pm line pre-apical with slight white inturn at costa. Hindwing ocellus with large bright red iris. rubriluna: 32-37mm; 0-1350m; Venezuela: Bolivar, Zulia; Guyana: East Demerara West Coast Berbice, Mazaruni Potaro; Peru: LT San Martin, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Amazonas (ESs); Bolivia: La Paz, (probably Pando and Beni (WO?)); Brazil: Amazonas, Mato Grosso; Colombia; Ecuador: Napo, Morona-Santiago, probably Pastaza. The forewing cell mark is very tiny and dark red, encircled in black, all inside a grey ring. sorry, no image available viettei: questionable presence in Ecuador. I think it may be replaced there by Gamelia hollinensis which Horst had originally sent to me as G. viettei, which may be more limited in its range to areas around HT Tinga Maria, Huanuco, Peru.

I think that Gamelia abasia is probably limited in its range to the Guyana-Amazon Rain Forest Region, being replaced by quite a few recently described species on both the eastern and western slopes of the Andes, probably rudloffi in western Ecuador and western Colombia and paramartiniana in eastern Ecuador. Here is another abasia-like species, unnamed as yet from Costa Rica. To me it clearly is neither musta nor septentrionalis.

Gamelia Janzen03 male, Costa Rica,
courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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Sphingidae Express

Many thanks also to Josh who provides another beautiful image of an Ispoarce cupressi larva from Duval County, Florida, via Daniel Marlos.

Isoparce cupressi fifth instar, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida,
April 11, 2015, courtesy of Josh, via Daniel Marlos.

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Inspired by image submissions of Pseudosphinx tetrio larvae and a Xylophanes chiron nechus adult from Ilse Knijn, I have just created a Sphingidae checklist for Aruba. Perhaps some of you vacation there.

Pseudosphinx tetrio larvae, Aruba, courtesy of Ilse Knijn.

Ilse writes, "A couple of years ago I had the Frangipani Tree full of the Tetrio sphinx larva. Never seen that before, and the next day all of them were gone. Mysterious animals….."

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Spring must be coming to Canada!

Hemaris thysbe, Presquile Provincial Park, Brighton, Ontario,
May 3, 2015, Steven Rowe.

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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 $1.15 (2015 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 return address on the shipping box. Do not send payment to the New Jersey 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 maintenace 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;
4) helping to pay my daughter's tuition (She has now completed her B.A. (two years ago) and B. Ed. (spring 2013) and is certified to teach) and has been working full time as of September with contract until end of first semester in January.

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 site are linked from your WLSS homepage.

If you are mailing a check from USA, please use $1.15 postage (2015 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 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.