Actias luna pairing, Lake County, Florida,
April 16, 2017, courtesy of Taylor Jones.
Hi All,
I just noticed, as I went to create the May newsletter, that I had not posted one for April. My apologies. I think my thought processes are a little out of kilter. My mother, Rita Eileen (Maire) Oehlke, 89 years old, passed away on February 8. Her faithful dog, Tiger, held on until she was gone, and then he passed in March. My father is 91 years old and he is in his last days so my mind has been elsewhere on many occasions. Dad is 91 years of age, and he taught me most of all I know about moths and butterflies or at least got me started on the path to a very interesting hobby. Dad, Donald Clarke Oehlke, passed away peacefully in his home on April 20, 2017. Many thanks to all of you who appreciated their service and mentioned same to them or to me on many occasions.
Actias luna eggs were shipped from Alabama in early April (April 3-4) and again (April 10-11) and again (April 17-18); luna cocoons are expected to become available in late May early June. Callosamia securifera eggs were available in very late March. Cocoons and eggs of this species might become available in May. Larvae are feeding now.
Antheraea polyphemus eggs are being shipped from Alabama (April 17-18). Hyalophora cecropia eggs will probably be shipped April 20-21.
Always when placing an egg order, please provide your complete address so I know best when to contact you about availabilty of eggs.
Below is an image from April 16, 2017. What is happening in the southern states adds to what we look forward to in the North.
Actias luna pairing, Lake County, Florida,
April 16, 2017, courtesy of Taylor Jones.
Actias luna are flying as far north as Kingston, Rhode Island, May 4.
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May you all have success with your own moth experiences in 2017. Here on Prince Edward Island, I usually don't even start to take my breeding stock out of cold storage until after Mothers' Day.
In addition to the price of the eggs, in the USA there will be one shipping and handling fee of $8.00 for each egg packet shipped as I have to pay my egg shippers for their efforts and expenses, and I am going to keep some money for myself after paying taxes on profits.
My US shipping partners keep some eggs from each batch that they ship for quality control. If the control eggs fail to hatch, customers will get refunds or replacements. Eggs of most species hatch within twelve days of deposition. Some species like io, cecropia, colombia can take 18-20 days. Please let me know immediately (within twenty days of deposition date) if there seems to be a problem with the eggs you have received.
I do not offer refunds for eggs that have died in transit due to postal delays or for larvae that fail to survive on the foodplants that you offer, but if control eggs have also failed to hatch, you will receive replacements or refund.
USA prices with payment in US dollars to US destinations (don't forget the additional S & H fee of $8.00 for each species):
Actias luna $5.50/dozen
Antheraea polyphemus $5.50/dozen
Automeris io $6.00/dozen
Callosamia promethea $5.50/dozen
Callosamia securifera $7.00/dozen; only maybe on this species as often females are skittsh and hard to pair
Citheronia regalis $8.00/dozen
Dryocampa rubicunda $5.50/dozen (maybe)
Eacles imperialis $8.00/dozen
Hyalophora cecropia $6.00/dozen
Hyalophora colombia $7.00/dozen (maybe)
Samia cynthia $6.00/dozen
Don't forget the shipping fee of $8.00 for all species being shipped by my shipping partners from within the US to US destinations.
If you are in the US and anticipate having Saturniidae eggs this spring/summer and would like to become one of my US shipping partners, please send me a personal email and let me know what US species you anticipate you will have for shipping. There are no taxes that I have to charge customers for eggs shipped within US, but there is approximate 5% Paypal fee on total order if you will be using Paypal as your payment method. That is currently built into the prices listed above.
Canadian prices with payment in Canadian dollars to destinations within Canada:
Please note shipping charges will vary depending upon you postal code. The amount of GST or HST that I have to collect will also vary depending upon your province. Shipping charges, taxes and Paypal transaction fees are in addition to the egg prices listed below:
Actias luna $5.50/dozen
Antheraea polyphemus $5.50/dozen
Callosamia promethea $5.50/dozen
Dryocampa rubicunda $5.50/dozen
Hyalophora cecropia $6.50/dozen
Hyalophora columbia $6.50/dozen
Samia cynthia $5.50/dozen
There is also the possibility of Eacles imperialis pini at $7.00/dozen and Automeris io at $7.00/dozen, but they would depend upon availability from a shipping partner in Ontario. All prices for Canadian livestock are in Canadian dollars. I am now able to receive interac payments from customers in Canada. This is a speedy way of doing business, and is often less expensive than Paypal.
Overseas shipping would be exclusively the first seven species mentioned for Canada.
I deal only with livestock of North American species (Canada, USA). If you have requests for other Canada/US species not listed above, let me know your interests and I will try to find a source.
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Bill Garthe of Illinois is providing images of all instars of Automeris louisiana that he is rearing on grasses. I will shortly be posting the images.
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I began taking stock out of cold storage May 13, 2017:
about twenty undersized polyphemus cocoons for school display
two large luna
two large polyphemus
one cecropia
eight Cp
five Sc
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There is a Buck Moth that flies in southeastern Ontario and northeastern New York, near Lake Ontario that has yet to receive a scientific name. It is commonly known as the Bogbean Buckmoth. Derek Bridgehouse has recently sent me images of the male and female.
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I am making slow but steady progress on the processing of the new Saturniidae species described in 2016 by various combinations of Brechlin, Meister, Van Schayck and Kaech. I am now working on the Gamelioides species. As soon as I get my income taxes organized and submitted (before end of April), I will return to the Gamelioides.
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I am also pleasantly surprised by the many species that are being found in northeastern Brazil. I have greatly expanded the lists for Ceara and Rio Grande do Norte and have also made some new entries from the more widely documented south eastern Brazilian states.
Recentlty new photos have been added for Leucanella janeira, Arsenura biundulata, Austrolippa convergens, Pseudautomeris coronis. In many cases live moths of these species are being depicted for first time on WLSS.
Bart Coppens and Falk Zalhaus have also been providing many beautiful images, and many people in Brazil continue to send images of larvae and adults. It is exciting for me to see so many images of live moths, and to have permission to post the images.
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Sphingidae Express
Derek Bridgehouse continues to send me confirmations of Sphingidae species in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, and I reguarly update the page at Metcalfe County, Kentucky Sphingidae.
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Catocala Capers
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Ricky Patterson recently alerted me to four new Catocala species described in US by Kons and Borth in 2015-2016. I have created and posted files for Catocala aestivalia, Catocala slotteni, Catocala myristica and hope to very soon have the new files posted for Catocala ventura. I am also updating the state by state checlists: ventura in California; myristica in Mississippi; and slotteni and aestivalia in Florida. Ricky recently sent me images of myristica which I have posted.
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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 (2017 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;
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 $1.25 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.