Tips and Questions on Rearing Insects
Since we have to rear insects in order to document their lifecycles, and not many people know how to do this, we thought we'd make a place to figure out problems and questions. (For basic information, see the links in the 'Raising Insects" section.) If you leave a question or a suggestion as a comment, we'll try to incorporate that information onto this page.
1. Sawflies and leaf mining Diptera - does anyone have suggestions on how to rear them successfully?
2. MJ puts milled peat in the bottom of her rearing jars in case the larvae go below ground to pupate. Peat has some anti bacterial properties and probably helps keep things safely moist when sprayed with water during the winter.
3. How to raise insects that live on fungi? The fruiting parts of fungi don't live very long, so it's hard to know how to keep the insects alive. (See Jim McClarin's link below.)
4. How to raise Diptera larvae that eat rust spores?
5. How to raise anything that needs to be kept damp?
Edith Smith has some suggestions for caring for butterflies. What to do if the chrysalis falls from where it's hanging. And: How to keep chrysalises hydrated.
Chris (JCM Digital Imaging) has some great suggestions for rearing insects on his web site. Click here to see information on the techniques and inexpensive equipment he suggests.
Chris is also doing a very detailed series of videos about how he rears White-Streaked Silk Moths. The first two parts are finished. Part one. Part two. One interesting thing to notice is that the timing in California is different than for midwestern Giant Silkmoths. Cecropia and other Giant Silkmoths I've raised in the midwest spend the winter as cocoons, and eclose, mate, and lay eggs in the late spring.
Jim McClarin has detailed suggestions for rearing beetles from fungus, and techniques for collecting and photographing insects.
I found what I think is a giant leopard moth caterpillar. I thought he was dead..but perked up quickly. I have been keeping him in a nice box for almost 4 days. he doesn't seem to be eating. I have fed him magnolia leaves, lilac leaves, dandelion and honey suckle. When is this guy going to cocoon? He is pretty big. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I looked in David Wagner's book: Caterpillars of Eastern North America for information on this caterpillar. His list of food plants includes cherry, dandelion, oak, plantain, sunflower and willow - so it sounds like you're offering some things it might like. Wagner says that these caterpillars usually hide under bark or leaf litter during the day, and come out at night to feed. Maybe you could put in a few new leaves in the evening and check in the morning to see if there's been any feeding activity on them?
You might want to provide some "litter" for it to hide in, and maybe to pupate in - many caterpillars like to pupate in leaves or debris. If you use real leaves, you run the risk of introducing mold or other insects or spiders, so you could use something like rolled up pieces of paper towel.
Good luck! And take photos - you may get a life cycle to add to our list!
How do you find the sex on a giant silkmoth pupa?
Female giant silkmoth pupae tend to be larger and heavier than males. So it helps if you have several that you can compare.
It was one of the Io cats I have been raising. Most have pupated, and I was wondering if you could identify the sex on some of them.