Portable Mating Cages

I use the same type of hardware cloth to make cylindrical mating cages about 14 inches high with an eight-and-a-half inch diameter.

I use a square piece of the same type hardware cloth (3/8" to 1/2" mesh) to make the bottom of the cage.

The square usually measures twelve inches along each side. I cut the bottom edge off the cylinder before it is "rolled", and also cut the smooth edge off one side. I roll the cylinder and bend the projections to fasten the mesh. Then the cylinder is centered over the bottom and the projections are allowed to pass through and then folded to secure the bottom.

I place the cage outside just after dark so that birds will not attack the female(s) inside. I have placed as many as three female polyphemus all in the same cage simultaneously and have found them all successfully paired the following morning at dawn.

To prevent the females from escaping or hanging from the top, where they might not be accessible to the males, I use a plastic dinner plate for a lid/cover.

If you don't check the cage at dawn, you may find that not only have the males been devoured, but the females may also be in some bird's stomach.

If you can wait up til slightly after midnight, you may find that the moths have already paired and you can place the cages in a safer locale.

I have a larger cylinder about three feet in diameter and three feet high. I gently lift the cages with paired moths and put the cages into the larger cylinder and cover with a large, square piece of plywood outdoors/cardboard indoors. I usually bring them indoors to avert any calamities. You will be amazed what a bird will do to get at such an excellent snack. The indoor cover is for your own protection from spouse who might not enjoy wild, detached males flying around the house!

If I have more than one female in the cage and not all the females have paired, I use a pair of sharp scissors to gently snip an eighth inch triangle at the forewing tip to identify the paired females. I do this to distinguish the gravid female(s) from any that might not have mated. The snipping won't hurt the moth.

Of course, no snipping is necessary if all or none of the females have mated, unless you have several cages on the go with moths of different status. Procrastination can cause much frustatration! Find some way to clearly identify your mated females.

The pair usually separates in the early evening (approximately twenty hours after pairing) and I am careful to check periodically to make sure separated females are moved quickly to an inflated brown paper sandwich or grocery bag. If not moved promptly, the urge to oviposit is so great that eggs will be deposited all over the mesh.

Males can be harvested for specimens or released.

If you need to tranport the cage to an area where there are wild moth populations, assuming your backyard or upstair balcony will not suffice, then a stone or other weight can be placed in the bottom of the cage to keep it upright during car transfer, both before and after pairings have occured. Drive slowly! Some masking tape to keep the top plate secured is also advisable

Most of my cages are placed on the 2" x 4" top rail of my upstairs balcony outer wall. It is important that females are in an area of darkness. It is interesting to watch the flight of the incoming males and a recommended activity at least a couple of times a year.

Outside house light will frequently result in approaching males being drawn to the light instead of to the female(s). You will be surprised at how well you can see in the dark.

Cats and skunks are also especially fond of moths. If you have problems or potential problems with either of these two animals, you can suspend the ligthweight cage from a tree branch or clothesline.

I have seen similar cages with a small side door on string hinges for female exit and entry. There is a permanent top of stiff foam stapled in place inside the circumference of the hardward cloth. A suspension string can then run from the foam or the mesh to tree branch or clothesline. Remove the weight first.

I still chuckle at a mental image from late 1990's when a collecting friend and I had many cages of several different species to place. We didn't want to travel all over the countryside in a rather remote locale and so decided on a church graveyard. We were careful not to walk on any gravesites and set out our cages on numerous headstones throughout the cemetery.

When we returned around 11:30 pm to check out the cages, there were at least a half-dozen males zipping around the graveyard.

Lunas, polyphemus and cecropia are distinctive in the air when you can see them all at once.

I can only imagine what an intoxicated visitor might have thought--reminded me of "Telea polyphemus" reference from "The Devil and Daniel Webster".

It was interesting that upon our return at 1:00 am everything had settled. All moths were paired, in one case a male polyphemus with a female luna. Eggs were not viable, but the female luna was lost as she "thought" she had been fertilized and began dumping eggs upon separation.

Hybridization within a genus can be accomplished in a similar fashion, placing calling females of different species in close proximity, but only allowing wild males of one species access to females of a differing species. Frequently males are preinserted into larger cages.

If you are going out for the evening and won't be around when the pair is likely to separate, you can let the female lay her eggs in the cage. The eggs are not that difficult to remove with your fingernails or you can usually disturb the moths sufficiently without harming them to cause a separation.

I do not know how long the moths have to remain coupled for successful fertilization, but I suspect it is actually for a relatively short time. The male does not always remain coupled with the female for the full twenty hours. Some pairings are very brief. For some species less than half an hour is the norm. I have obtained full complements of fertilized eggs from female polyphemus that had paired for only a couple of hours.

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