Rearing notes for our cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia) cocoons. Stock originated as eggs from New York, June 2016; currently in the F1 generation.​

​Rearing notes for Smerinthus ophthalmica second instar larvae. This stock originated from wild eggs or larvae collected in the San Francisco Bay Area (California) in June 2016 and April 2017 that were then either inbred or outbred with local males in summer 2017.

May 30

May 29

Rearing notes for 12 overwintering eastern festoon pupae (Allancastria cerisyi).

​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.

The first three of our western tiger swallowtails (Papilio rutulus) pupae, all males, have eclosed. Stock originated from a single pairing between reared female and wild male in Albany, California, Summer 2017. 

After a long wait, the first three of our rutulus (Papilio rutulus) pupae have eclosed, one after another, starting from early in the morning (7-8 AM) to mid-morning, which is typical for this species. (Technically, one of them, a male, already eclosed during the shipment of the pupae and a female eclosed in Albany before the pupae were sent.) All three are male, which is not too surprising, but may be problematic for hand-pairing considering it may be unlikely that three females will eclose in time, later. 

The first male that eclosed is the largest, perhaps coming out of one of the largest male pupae that we have. It is a deep shade of yellow, with blue and yellow bands along the wings that are quite thick. The chain of yellow spots on the hind wings are large and slightly crescent-shaped, creating a miniature series of additional tails; the set just below the true swallowtail tails are somewhat reminiscence of Papilio multicaudata. These traits seem to be characteristic among California populations, particularly along the coast. 

This individual was especially hungry, perhaps because of its larger size and because it eclosed earliest today. When we very carefully placed it on a blooming lilac (Syringa sp.), a swallowtail favorite, it started plunging its proboscis into the flowers to drink. 

The second one is slightly smaller than the first, blacker and paler yellow, and perhaps a bit plumper, but is otherwise quite similar in overall appearance, which is not surprising considering they are immediate siblings.

The last one is quite small such that the wing shape is more triangular and the ratio of the non-black colors is lsess. 

None of these are a perfect match for any of the many males we encountered last year at Albany Hill in Alameda County, California. Rather, they, unsurprisingly, very closely resemble the parents, particularly the mother. Both parents also had very long tails. In any case, we feel that these phenotypes are quite spectacular compared to what we have seen. It will be interesting to see the adults of the F1 generation should successfully inbreed these later. 

​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.

The first of our eastern festoon (Allancastria cerisyi) pupae has eclosed.

Now that we are in Ithaca, it is unlikely that we will be able to find a convenient source of pipevine (Aristolochia) in a timely manner, but it is still an experience just to see these eastern festoons (Allancastria cerisyi) as they emerge. The first of 12 pupae eclosed today. This one, unsurprisingly, is a male.

Although we were there when it first crawled out of the pupal shell, the expanding of the wings was unexpectedly fast (~5 minutes), perhaps because it is so small, so only the final stages were captured in photograph.
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This is the first representative of the Parnassiinae subfamily that we ​have seen in real life. While many of the features are unmistakably swallowtail (Papilioninae)-like, such as the general wing shape, venation, and spot placement; and the shape of the body, antennae, and eyes. However, we cannot help but notice that it also shares some semblance to the pierids (Pieridae), Papilionidae's closest relative, in wing and body shape. 

The male's clasper is not quite conspicuous as a swallowtail's because the two closing flaps are not very large. The hooks and other machinery are there when it is squeezed open, but this made it hard for us to sex it initially. It seems, though, that the males such as this one lack a lot of the black spots of the female which have an overall much darker look. 

The second and third of our pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) pupae has eclosed. Originated from Utah and Oregon. ​

Two more eurymedons (Papilio eurymedon) eclosed today, one in the mid-morning and another in mid-afternoon. The second one, shown below, is oddly plump for a male. The abdomen appears soft and bloated, 

The second one, which emerged in the afternoon, hardened its wings far quicker than the first. It has quite a bit more black (thicker stripes) than the first two, which is a bit interesting. 

Here are the two together. The first one is on the right and the second, darker one is on the left.

Late this evening, we found this whopping male cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia) in our pupae box. Granted, it is actually quite small, even for a male, but having not seen anything close to its size in so long it still comes off as being huge. What is interesting is that it is extremely pale for a male (which are generally darker than females); the black is sort of a dirty gray and the red is is rather mellow. This is unlike the phenotype we observed in the previous generation or what is typical. It may have something to do with the different rearing conditions that the current brood experienced, or it could simply be odd genetics.  

This male took 21 days to eclose, which is reasonably long for a moth of this size. Still, this is down quite a bit from the times that we observed in last year, where the moths took about two months to come out. Most likely, the pupae broke diapause immediately this time around because the juxtaposition of cold and warm was dramatic enough when they were taken out of the refrigerator; our dorm is set at about 70 °F 24/7. Last year when we took them out of the refrigerator, it was still February where it was only about mid 50-60s °F at room temperature. 

Anyway, hopefully, this timing is right. Now that it is mid-May with the weather warm, we are certain that the wild population should be stirring by now. Granted, cecropias are generally the latest of the saturniids, owing to their larger size (longer development time) and may not be in full flight until well into June. Nonetheless, if a female does comes out later, we will try to call in a wild male to avoid having to inbreed for a second time in a row. 

For a few weeks now, we have been noticing the plants around here starting to make a move, such as the lengthening of the branch tips on trees. The weather, however, has only just made a permanent break. Now it seems like almost everything is fluorescing! 
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Around our dorm:

Grassy area behind our dorm:

Beebe Lake and Mundy Wildflower Garden trail:

Unfortunately, we don't actually have much to rear at this time when the leaf quality of the plants are at their peak;the nitrogen to carbon ratio and nutrients of the new growth is unmatched and, depending on the plant, contains less or more toxins. We only took our pupae out of cold storage recently since it is best, of course, to only take pupae out when one is sure that the temperature is favorable and there will be leaves to feed. Presumably, this is how pupae would operate under natural conditions as well.