The first two of our Smerinthus opthalmica pupae have eclosed. Stock originated from wild eggs or larvae collected in the San Francisco Bay Area (California), June 2016 and April 2017 that were then either inbred or outbred with local males in summer 2017. Two female Smerinthus opthalmica eclosed last night from the twenty or so pupae that we received from Albany, California on April 20, although we were unaware of this until this morning. Both moths are dark gray (although in the images, they appear fairly brown), which is interesting because the very first ophthalmica we found, which eventually became the maternal line for our entire stock, was exceptionally tan. At one point last year, we had made it a goal to create a tan a strain as possible through selective breeding. Several of the maternal parents of the current pupae were tan, but because we have limited control of eclosions times and the wild males we called in tended to be very dark, most of paternal parents were gray (even when acknowledging that it is normal for males to be less tan than females). Of course, it would be impossible to try to trace individual lineages of these pupae right, but hopefully a few tan genes did make it into this sample of pupae even if they are not fully expressed in these two individuals that have already eclosed. Both moths are quite small for females, one being a fair notch smaller than other. This was expected considering that none of the twenty or so pupae are particularly large due to sub-optimal rearing conditions last year and, perhaps, genetics. It is somewhat surprising that these were able to develop and eclose so quickly. The pupae were taken out of the refrigerator on April 28, so it has at most been 13 days since the pupae broke diapause. The species is generally has fast development, and these are small pupae, but this is still down quite a bit from the times we observed last year using incubation at 80 °F/27 °C (~20 days). Also odd is that these first two are females when it should be the smaller males that eclose first. Hopefully, some males do come out in the coming days so that we can obtain some pairings. ![]() Brian Liang Brian Liang is a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York pursuing an undergraduate degree in entomology. He is co-owner and a main contributor of the Liang Insects blog, insects articles, and site design.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Timeline 2017–present
Ithaca, New York This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations and experiences with various insects (primarily Lepidoptera) around the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, starting from the time we moved here in 2017. As this is a personal blog, we try to keep collections/rearings for university research and course work to a minimum, and mainly focus on just the species we catch and raise for our own fun and interest. Posts prior to this time can be viewed at Timeline 2012-2017: Albany, California, though there is occasionally some crossover when we have returned home during breaks or reared stock derived from home (see Albany, California Updates). Archives (232)
July 2020 (1) August 2019 (2) July 2019 (35) June 2019 (46) May 2019 (20) March 2019 (1) January 2019 (1) November 2018* October 2018* September 2018 (1)* August 2018 (9)* July 2018 (11)* June 2018 (22*) May 2018 (18)* April 2018 (2)* January 2018 (6) December 2017 (5) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (5) September 2017 (26) August 2017 (19) *Currently, a significant portion of 2018 posts are missing. The notes/photos for this time period are saved on our personal files but the posts were never built due to a busy schedule that year. We are still actively building these posts when we have the time. Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List
(Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Amphion floridensis Ancyloxypha numintor Antheraea polyphemus Battus philenor hirsuta Callosamia promethea Colias eurytheme Citheronia regalis Cupido comyntas Danaus plexippus Darapsa myron Diadema inscriptum Epargyreus clarus Erynnis baptisiae Estigmene acrea Euchaetes egle Eumorpha pandorus Hemaris diffinis Hyalophora cecropia Limenitis archippus Liminitis arthemis arthemis Limenitis arthemis astyanax Manduca sexta Orgyia leucostigma Pachysphinx modesta Paonias myops Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rutulus Papilio troilus Papilio zelicaon Pyrgus communis Samia ricini Smerinthus ophthalmica Speyeria cybele Sphecodina abbottii Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Vanessa virginiensis Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Conocephalus sp. Dissosteira carolina Melanoplus femurrubrum Neoconocephalus ensiger Neoxabea bipunctata Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Diapheromera femorata Mantodea Mantis religiosa Albany, California Updates |