Hi All,
Since I am sold out for the season, I have turned the livestock section of websites over to my father who is offering regalis pupae and some interesting Sphingidae and butterflies as well as many Saturniidae.
Checkout his offerings at
http://www.insectcompany.com/silkmoth/livestock.htm
Supplies are going fast and this may be the last month that many species are available. I will be offering eggs again in the spring and will probably post price lists in March.
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Bruce Feller just sent me this note:
Viable cocoons of Calosamia angulifera offered at a cost of $5.00 each U.S., plus a flat handling/postage charge of $5.00 U.S. per order. Will also consider exchange for A/1 cocoons of Samia cecropia at a ratio of 1:1. Inquiries and orders to Bruce Feller, 88 Old Field Road, Old Field, New York 11733 USA
mfelle@suffolk.lib.ny.us
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I had a great trip to New Jersey, October 20-28, and got to meet Jeff and Cynthia Boettner, Robert and Bev Powers, Michael Pollock and his wife, Mark Lasko, and Bob and Helen Muller.
It was nice to see my parents, who are doing well, and to again see all four of my sisters and their families. Details and trip highlights at the end of this note.
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Many thanks to Dr. Manuel A. Balcazar Lara who has provided images of many (over fifty) Mexican Saturniidae not previously depicted on the site: Adeloneivaia wellingi, Anisota kendallorum, Anisota punctata, Automeris averna, Automeris beutelspacheri, Automeris daudiana, Automeris eogena, Automeris maeonia adusta, Automeris manantlanensis, Automeris melmon, Automeris michoacana, Automeris peigleri, Automeris windiana, Cerodirphia wellingi, Citheronia azteca albescens, Citheronia splendens splendens, Citheronia splendens queretana, Coloradia casanovai, Coloradia euphrosyne, Coloradia vazquezae, Dirphiella albofasciata, Dirphiella taylori, Eacles imperialis quintanensis, Eacles ormondei yucatanensis, Hemileuca dyari, H. lares, H. lex, H. mania, H. mexicana, H. peninsularis, H. rubridorsa, H. tinturex, Hylesia coinopus, H. colimatifex, H. continua alinda, H. hubbelli, H. ileana and H. tincturex, Leucanella contempta windi, L. muelleri, Paradirphia coprea, P. fumosa, P. hoegei, P. ibarrai, Periphoba albata, Periphoba unicolor, Ptiloscola surrotunda, P. wellingi, Syssphinx colla grisea, S. gomezi, S. malinalcoensis, S. modena, S. pescadori and Syssphinx yucatana
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Kirby Wolfe just sent me images of Agapema dyari, Bunaeopsis licharbus, Gonimbrasia belina, Paradirphia hoegei, and Paradirphia lasiocampina. Images have been posted.
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Bernhard Wenczel has recently sent me stunning images of Dirphia aculea from Peru. The images are posted in the aculea file.
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Joel Szymczyk has provided very nice images of Hemileuca juno eggs, larvae, pupae and adults and also has some egg masses available. Contact him via his website at www.zianet.com/jszymczyk/lepidoptera
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I am still looking to purchase quantities of polyphemus cocoons at $2.00. Please let me know if you can supply any at those prices. I still need 100-150 more.
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Thanks to Jose Boettger, who via Kirby Wolfe, sent me beautiful images of Leucanella viettei from Peru.
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Thanks also to Teemu Klemetti who has sent me a nice image of Ubaena dolabella from northern Malawi, Africa.
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Thanks also to Jeff Ausmus for series of A. polyphemus images to complete life history for that species.
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Joel Szymscyk is offering overwintering eggs of Hemileuca juno. Contact Jeff at jszymczyk@zianet.com
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I have recently purchased Lemaire's Attacinae, 1978 and his Arsenurinae, 1980 and have been using those great texts to update ranges, wingspans, etc.
If anyone has a copy of his Ceratocampinae, I would like to borrow or purchase it so that I can upgrade files. The book is no longer in print.
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Please have a look at Members' Wish List every so often as you might be able to make someone's day!
*********SPECIAL REQUESTS*********
Save your empty cocoons for Carol Neeves. She works with the silk and would like all the empties you can send her. Carol has just set me a write up with pictures to show what she does with the silk (now posted in Members' Articles section).
Neeves, Carol, 1609 Ponderosa Drive, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57103
CANeeves@aol.com
Janet Hightower is also looking for empty cocoons. She is doing a project on making rattles out of cocoons, and promises us some images and an article after she makes some noisemakers.
Janet Hightower, 1319 Ahlrich Avenue, Encinitas, California 92024 janet@scripps.edu
North American Saturniidae cd available to members only at $15.00 U.S. which includes postage. State by state listings, pooled images for each species. Saves you airtime if that is an issue. Please note, this IS NOT the cd of the World's Largest Saturniidae Site which I hope to have ready for Christmas, but it does feature all of the North American species with county by county distribution maps. It is a real bargain at the price. I am sure you will be pleased.
Contract agreement is that copies of North American Saturniidae cd will not be distributed or copied for sale or redistribution by recipients.
Trip to New Jersey: I left Montague, Prince Edward Island on Monday morning, October 20, and travelled, mostly on super highways, to the home of Jeff and Cynthia Boettner in Shelburne Falls in western Massachusetts. Jeff does extensive research with Lepidoptera parasites and parasitoids and Cynthia is monitoring plant life in eastern watersheds. After some homemade apple pie, ice cream and herbal tea we shared some stories and Jeff told me some interesting things about the Compsilura fly and a few other parasites.
I had a good night's sleep and then Jeff took me on an early morning tour of the "Artisan" town of Shelburne Falls before he left for work.
The town, with its dam, mill, waterfalls and quaint little shops reminded me much of Clinton, New Jersey. I visited the candle makers, the glass blowers, the quilt makers, etc., and had a nice walk through the town, and was hardly disturbed by the rare and brief thunderstorm that descended on the tiny valley village.
Shortly before noon I headed out along Highway #2 through the Berkshires to the home of Robert and Bev Powers in Feura Bush near Albany, New York.
Some of the views were breathtaking and I went around my first hairpin turn at 10 miles per hour and also stopped, on Jeff's recommendation, at the Natural Bridge State Park near the Massachusetts - New York border. The small park is well worth the time to visit, especially if you like waterfalls and clear mountain streams. Near the top of the mountain, on the way down, I found a woolly bear caterpillar, Pyrrharctia isabella, and carried it with me back to the car.
I spent two nights with the Powers and very much enjoyed homemade videos of Robert's "aircraft" and Bev's wild turkey friends. More pie and ice cream (pumpkin flavoured ice cream, good, never had it before) and Swedish meatballs and an evening at a local favourite, the Toll House restaurant, kept me well fed.
I got to see the large rearing cages that Robert constructed for Bev as well as the many airplanes in his collection. Bev does a great job with rearing of polyphemus, luna and cecropia and has provided me with many cocoons.
On Wednesday afternoon Bev and I drove into Albany to visit the museum to look at the Catocala, Sphingidae and Saturniidae collections on the third floor. Museum staff went beyond the call of duty in making the collections available to us. Specimens were very nicely preserved and beautifully mounted.
It was just our luck, that halfway through the visit, there was a rare emergency evacuation practice that interrupted our tour.
The next day, just before noon I headed south to New Jersey to visit my parents and sisters.
My father showed me some of the biggest polyphemus cocoons that I have ever seen as well as some exceptional Citheronia regalis and Eumorpha pandorus pupae. He also has very nice stock of luna, cecropia, promethea, io, cynthia and several butterflies. See the livestock section on website.
My parents are in good health and I again got to enjoy Mom's cooking. Also got to see three of my sisters (Loretta and husband Joe and son Brian; Leanne and daughter Jessica; and Donna (missed Larry and Leo) and Heather, Christina and Dakwonda from New Jersey.
I went on a "halloween" hayride with my mother and got to see one sister, Donna, perform as a wicked witch and heard one niece, Jessie, sing on stage. Jessie later made me a beautiful tape of some of her favourite songs.
I also had a nice visit with Michael Pollock in Neshanic Station. Michael is a real butterfly enthusiast and I believe he told me he has seen forty-seven butterfly species at his backyard floral "arrangements". Michael is actively creating "habitat" for butterflies and Saturniidae on his property and had some very nice cecropia and polyphemus cocoons he had reared that summer.
I also spent an interesting morning with Mark Lasko in south central New Jersey. We dug through gravel in a stream bed and found some fossil remains of sharks (teeth and jawbones) and squid like creatures from 250,000,000 years ago. Mark is in process of creating a large moth and butterfly display in his area.
On Monday, October 27, I headed back to P.E.I. along a more coastal route, hoping to visit Robert Muller in Milford in southern Connecticut and Don Adams in West Bridgewater in southeastern Massachusetts. I arrived at Robert's home around 2:00 and met his wife Helen and had a wonderful chat and had an amazing visit of Robert's collection in his basement. He probably has the most complete collection of Connecticut butterflies and dragonflies assembled anywhere, with collecting data and tales to tell about just about all of them.
Bob is also an avid hunter as has an interesting collection of ducks which he has mounted himself as a self taught taxidermist.
I really enjoyed his story of how he acquired his home and how he, as a youngster, dislodged moths of "high elevations" with a pea shooter and choke cherry pits.
I wanted to reach Don's before dark as weather was quite stormy and visibility was not good so left Robert and Helen's around 4:00.
There were some accidents along the highway as travelling conditions were poor and the trip to southern MA took longer than I thought, so I was not able to visit Don and Cheryl in West Bridgewater. I spoke to him on the phone instead from my sister's home in Attleboro where I spent the night.
I had a very nice visit with Andrea, her husband Randy and their children, Joshua and Olivia.
The next morning in left for P.E.I. and arrived home 12.5 hours later. All vehicles crossing the border into St. Stephen, New Brunswick, were being searched, but that only resulted in a very short delay of about ten minutes.
Many thanks to the other members who offered accomodation. I hope to make a similar trip next year so maybe some visits can be arranged in the future.
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