  Back in Albany, our luna moths (Actias luna) have begun to eclose, anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) rearing continues, and checkerspot skipper (Pyrgus communis) larva has become a prepupa. Today, we got some exciting yet unsettling news that two lunas (Actias luna), a male and a female, have emerged back at home. When we reared these, we had put a great deal of effort into controlling the amount of daylight they received, making sure to keep them in a dark tub for at least 12 hours a day in order to increase the chances that would diapause. (Of course, the set up wasn't perfect as we were not always consistent about it and there are still many factors that might make it different that what they naturally experience that would cue diapause. For example, a diminishing photoperiod may have helped.) Even at the time, though, we had a bad feeling that not many of them cooperated, seeing as only a handful of the cocoons were the course and dark brown as they should be if they are diapausing. Because this is such an inconvenient time for them to be breeding and we would feel pretty terrible about making our mother deal with them, we decided the best thing to do for now is to get one pairing just to keep the line going and then pin the rest. As for our Papilio zelicaon, the last few are still eclosing and our mother is trying her best to hand-pair them. She reportedly already paired a male polyxenes with a female zelicaon, but it has not begun to lay yet. The several hundred pure zelicaon eggs that we already had in the cage from the mass pairings we did before we left are making progress, but according to our mother, there are only about 80 or so caterpillars. Mysterious losses always seem to be high when rearing outdoors, even with a screen cage to protect them. . . She also found eight random caterpillars on a different fennel in our yard that we must have overlooked when we were there.  Authors
Brian Liang
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Timeline 2017–present
Ithaca, New York This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations and experiences with various insects 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 for our entomology 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. Archives (220)
July 2019 (26) 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) 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 Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Butterflies & Moths Abbott's sphinx American lady Anise swallowtail Black swallowtail Carolina sphinx Cecropia moth Common checkerspot skipper Eastern festoon Eastern-tailed blue Eastern tiger swallowtail Eri silkmoth Giant swallowtail Great spangled fritillary Least skipper Lettered sphinx Luna moth Milkweed tussock moth Modest sphinx Monarch Nessus sphinx Orange sulfur Ophthalm sphinx Painted lady Pale swallowtail Pandora sphinx Promethea silkmoth Regal moth Salt marsh moth Silver-spotted skipper Small-eyed sphinx Snowberry clearwing Spicebush swallowtail Viceroy Virginia creeper sphinx Western tiger swallowtail White admiral White-marked tussock moth Wild indigo duskywing Butterfly & Moth Hybrids Black swallowtail × anise swallowtail Grasshoppers, Katydids, & Crickets Carolina band-winged grasshopper Lesser meadow katydid Red-legged grasshopper Sword-bearing conehead katydid Two-spotted tree cricket Phasmatodea Northern walkingstick Mantodea European mantis Collecting Sites Beebe Lake Cascadilla Gorge Trail Cornell Botanic Gardens Mundy Wildflower Garden Albany, California Updates |
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