Coloradia doris female, New Mexico, courtesy of Leroy Simon.
Hi All,
As a follow up to the surprise eclosion of a male luna, August 19, a second male emerged a couple of days later, but it is now September 17 and no more have emerged. As of October 6, no more have eclosed.
I have already shipped out all of the Hyalophora columbia I reared this year in Canada, and currently my supply of cecropia ($7.00 CDN) in Canada in very low. The cecropia are now sold out, too, in Canada.
I still have many nice polyphemus and luna (both at $6.00 CDN) cocoons. Unfortunately that is all I will have for sale in Canada this year.
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In many cases in the US larvae are still feeding and I do not know yet what the inventory will be like.
Thus far only the following are confirmed: Actias luna; Agapema homogena ($8.00); Antheraea polyphemus; Citheronia regalis; Coloradia doris (Colorado); Eacles imperialis.
Other species that are expected include Automeris io; Callosamia promethea; Hyalophora cecropia; Samia cynthia. There is also the possibility of obtaining Hyalophora columbia gloveri and Hyalophora euryalis (doubtful on last two species).
Coloradia doris female, New Mexico, courtesy of Leroy Simon.
If any of you have quantities of good quality livestock that you would like to sell to me in bulk at wholesale prices, please let me know and I will add those species to the list.
I have just received word, October 4, that there was a complete failure with butterlies this year, so no swallowtails for fall-winter 2018-19.
Already I have received word, October 4 and 5, that two suppliers the had considerable difficulty this year, one with disease and weather, one with yellow jackets, so I do not know yet what inventory will be like. I am hoping to send out email notices and be able to post here by October 10.
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Ut-oh!
Derek Bridgehouse took this picture of a hornet's nest about thirty feet from the main entrance to my house in Montague, PE., September 30, 2018. The base of this maple tree is thirteen inches in diameter. The nest is about twenty feet off the ground and seems to have about the same diameter as the tree base.
I can't remember seeing a nest quite so large before, but surprise often enlarges things. I know that hornets and yellow jackets will attack sleeved larvae, and the raiders will chew right through the sleeve fabric to get at their meal. I had quite a large number of sleeves on my own property this year, but none seemed to suffer any hornet attacks. Perhaps they just liked the location and were anticipating a good harvest in 2019.
If you are having troubles with hornets or yellow jackets, about the only think you can do that I know of is get one (or several) of those artificial, collapsible nests from a hardware store and hang it from a nearby tree. These insects are quite territorial and usually wil not try to settle in an area that has already been claimed.
Derek had come to PE for a visit while his wife attended a knitting seminar. he also sent me a nice comparison photo of Lintneria istar and Lintneria separatus which I have posted to both species flies at http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/Sphinx/usatable.htm.
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Bernhard Wenczel has recently sent me quite a few images. I have posted the Paradirphia fumosa sixth instar larval images, and am currently revising the Caio files and makeing a comparison table for the entire genus. Hope t ohave that done by end of September.
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Andrew Aldercotte has been sending images from central Panama. I believe one is of Lonomia puntarenasiana, described with a range that included only Costa Rica: Puntarenas. I fmy id is correct this would be a first time depiction of that species on WLSS.
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For the first time on WLSS I have posted images, courtesy of David Bygott, of live male and female Parusta xanthops from Tanzania.
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I am also updating Automeris pelaezi file with larval images from Alexandre Laberge. Hope to have that completed by end of August.
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I have almost completed a Saturniini comparison table for Panama, and, as soon as that is completed and posted, I will work on a similar table for Ceratocampinae from Panama (nearly done).
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Sphingidae Express
For the first time on Sphingidae of the Americas website a live Stolidoptera cadioui from Intag, Imbabura, Ecuador is displayed courtesy of Alan C. Trimble.
I am hoping this winter to try to complete the county by county Sphingidae checklists for all US states. If you can confirm species presence in any US counties, please send that info along, images and dates would also be useful.
Joao Amarildo Ranguetti has recently sent me images, recto and verso, of Xylophanes marginalis female from massaranduba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. I believe this is the first time the female marginalis s depicted on Sphingidae of the Americas website.
Very nice pictures of Hyles gallii larva with pink spiracular and pink lateral ovals from Soldotna, Alaska, are now posted to the Alaska page and via link from gallii file.
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Catocala Capers
Larry Gall writes, "Hi folks, Catocala season is underway in the northern parts of the USA and Canada, and Bob, Hugo, and I want to engage you and your collecting buddies to be on the lookout for several species, for differing reasons:
1. minuta – females for eggs (from any locality)
2. neogama – females for eggs (from any locality)>br>
3. praeclara/alabamae – females for eggs (from any locality)
4. praeclara/alabamae – any specimens from last 10 years (from Midwest and southern Canada)
For minuta, we are after eggs (fertile OR infertile) to produce better SEM scanning electron micrographs than what we currently have. For neogama, we are after eggs (fertile) to do more rearings to continue testing whether there is potentially a second cryptic species involved.
For praeclara/alabamae, the situation is more interesting. These two species are easily separated on wing pattern and DNA profile over most of their geographic ranges. However, in the Midwest and southern Canada we are finding specimens that one might normally consider praeclara based on wing pattern that in fact have alabamae DNA profiles. We’re trying to delimit the geographic region for this, so we can figure out more precisely what is going on. To that end, we are looking for a leg (to extract DNA) from ANY specimen taken within the last 10 years from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, western Pennsylvania, and western New York. Papered or field pinned material is fine, and although having the entire specimen would be best, if you want to retain the specimen then sending a good digital image with the leg is ok. If you have difficulty separating praeclara/alabamae, don’t worry, go ahead and send anything that look like these, regardless. And, like minuta and neogama, we are also looking for eggs (fertile) of praeclara/alabamae for rearing, as this would certainly also help with the above situation.
If Bob, Hugo, or I can reciprocate in any way, please let us know. Later this fall, as usual, I should have a list of species for which eggs will be available for rearing in spring 2019. Please pass this email along to other friends as well.
Happy catocalating!
Best,
Larry, Bob, Hugo
Lawrence F. Gall, Ph.D.
Head, Computer Systems Office &
Entomology Collections Manager
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University, P. O. Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520-8118
P: 1-203-432-9892
F: 1-203-432-9816
http://www.peabody.yale.edu
Courier Deliveries:
170 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
lawrence.gall@yale.edu
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