Bugfolks

I've been working hard on a new web site - so I thought I'd put the link here so you can check it out.  It's BugLifeCycles.com.

It's a site where people can learn more about the lives of insects.  So many insects are only familiar to us in just one of their many life stages.  Some insects we know very little about, and we know nothing at all about other stages in their lives.

I've met several people over the last few months who have been observing and recording the life stages of some of the insects they see.  Their life cycle series are here, as well as some series that I've been working on.

I'd like to get more people involved in this project!  If you'd like us to link to some of your photos, or you'd like to write a life cycle series on the site, let me know.  And please tell other people who might be interested - we'd love to hear from them too.

Marcie

 Mating Saturnidae:

Here is a rare occasion, an unmated female promethea moth had a male cecropia attatch to it one evening. The female promethea must have been to close to a scenting female cecropia and the male just found the promie more attracting.

Here is another picture of Callosamia promethea pairings from my house. In this photo I used 1/2 cage wire and originally had made it for a bird trap but that was short lived. Now it is my universal silk moth mating cage!

Mating Saturniidae:

Here are some neat pictures to look at of some native silk moths mating!

The fishing basket once again with a female and male promethea moth

A wild found female Polyphemus that called in a small wild male.

Mating Saturniidae

Another method I will use if a female hasn't mated for the first couple nights is to tie some string around her hind wings and forwings to make a leash around the moth. I secure the opposite end of the line to an anchor point such a branch or screening. I am very gently and dont hurt the moth but I tie it tight enough so it cant slip out of it.  This technique works very well if the males are having a hard time mating through the cages.  The only thing you have to look out for is birds getting their next meal.

You can see that the female is an older one and the male she called in was a giant!

Here are some other photos to look at of silk moths!

Automeris io female

Callosamia promethea female

Hyalophora cecropia male

Antheraea polyphemus female

Actias luna male

2008-2009 Cocooning Update

By: Ian Miller

This has been my best year yet for finding silk moth cocoons.  I have been taking hikes with my lovley girl friend (Bailee) and driving around out in the country in search of promethea cocoons.  Today we came across a tree that had 6 cocoons hanging from it!!!  And then we came across another tree with 3 cocoons on it!  So far finding 6 cocoons on one tree is my record. I have only found 4 on one tree up until today.

The larger cocoons are female while the smaller ones are males

All cocoons sound and feel alive so I am pretty excited about that. Its funny because just last sunday we( Bailee and I) had found 7 cocoons and only one was alive, the rest had hatched or been diseased, so I guess we got repaid today with a find of 9 healthy sounding cocoons!  All cocoons this year have been found on White ash, Wild Black cherry, and one large cocoon on a small Elm. The majority have been spun on Black Cherry trees and im suspiscious that the one on elm had wondered from its host ( ash) because there were several smaller ash trees in the area.

I also Noticed while walking along the Chippewa River a cecropia  way up at the top of a 15 foot high Red Maple tree. So being my very monkey like self I scaled the tree ,( the tree was unharmed) and gentley peeled the cocoon away from the branch it was on and shimmyed down with one hand and jumped the remaining few feet to the ground.  Usually when i find cocoons up that high the are parasitized but to my luck this one had some weight to it and also makes a nice thud when I shake it.  So far for the 2008-2009 collecting season i have found 34 promethea cocoons, 9 cecropia cocoons, and 8 polyphemus cocoons.  Hopefully there are plenty more to come.  I will be venturing out once this warmer weather starts to melt some snow.