First Wild Antheraea polyphemus Pairing

We obtained our first Antheraea polyphemus pairing with a captive female and a wild male.

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For the past three weeks, we attempted on nine nights with three different captive females to call in a wild male and failed every single time. The first eight attempts we used a wire cage with 1-square inch holes (which has consistently worked for Hyalophora cecropia females) at various location around town. No wild males ever came, so we eventually resorted to creating inbred hand-pairings with sibling males for the two females that called during those eight nights.

The ninth attempt (last night), we used a new setup because we suspected that perhaps the wire cage was making it difficult for the male to physically locate the female's abdomen (the holes were too small), despite that it worked for cecropias. Instead, we used an upside down laundry bag with the idea that the male could fly directly to the female through the opening at the bottom (a gamble, since the female could itself escape easily through the opening), but still no male came.

Tonight, the tenth attempt, we used the same setup as last night with the females that eclosed yesterday and today and were having serious doubts a male would come. However, to our surprise, around 11:00 PM, we checked and a wild male had flown right into the bag, though one of the females (the one that eclosed today?) had evidently escaped. The male is quite large but definitely smaller than the captive ones that eclosed a while back and seems paler in color. It is in relatively good condition; none of the wings are damaged and minimal scale loss anywhere on its body.

We took the bag inside with the two moths (probably a mistake) and waited to see if the male would pair, but after waiting several minutes it seemed that it was only interested in escaping, perhaps because we disturbed it. Thus, we had to yet again resort to hand-pairing the two moths, which was extremely difficult this time (unlike the two inbred ones with the sibling males) because the wild male seemed quite old and had a very skinny abdomen. ​

Based on the fact that a wild male finally came after the tenth attempt of setting a female outside to call, it seems that the polyphemus population may just be sparse, perhaps due to staggered eclosions? Or perhaps using the new set-up with the open bag finally allowed males to come in (and the reason we failed the first eight times was indeed because the wire cage physically prevented the male from pairing)? Maybe both explanations could be true. Regardless, we will likely consider using the open laundry bag setup for future attempts if more females eclose this year. For now, though, we are just extremely glad we have finally obtained outbred eggs.

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Alan Liang​
​Alan 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 and photographs.

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