We have returned to Albany, California from Ithaca, New York as per Cornell University's winter closing, giving us a chance to check on our overwintering pupae. Although we have generally been unimpressed by the insect diversity in the Bay Area, it is hard to deny that we are concerned about the loss of stock of a few major species that we did have access to in Albany, California and not in Ithaca, New York. As of this winter break, we still maintain a decent number of wetern tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) pupae, reared from the summer, as described in this recent post; these are probably the most important considering how difficult it already would be to maintain a stock of them even if did not have to leave to Ithaca. As for the other native species, we still have a handful of anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) pupae reared or collected by our mother while we were in Ithaca, a fair number of pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor hirsuta) pupae from larvae reared in summer, and a large number of Smerinthus opthalmica pupae also from larvae reared in the summer. It is especially important that we maintain this stock of anise because they are something that we could conceivably rear in Ithaca and would be very difficult to obtain otherwise (from other breeders). Further, if we encounter P. polyxenes asterius at some point in Ithaca, it would be a grand opportunity to conduct further experiments between the two, including hybridization. The main problem right now is that, at least historically and when reared in captivity, this local stock has proven to be quite poor in the execution of the winter diapause. Already we have thrown away a significant number of dead pupae while inspecting them today and can expect their numbers to continue to steadily decline before a chaotic emergence sometime in the spring. In fact, we have never had a huge success with breeding these from overwintering pupae and have always much more on collecting eggs as they appear in the wild in order to reinvigorate the colony. Nevertheless, the pupae that we have now are certainly better than nothing and if worst comes to worst, we can ask or mother to collect eggs for us as we still have fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) growing in our yard in Albany. The pipevine pupae arguably suffer an even higher diapause mortality rate (and losses from stray emergences) than the anise since most of them already enter diapause very early in the year. Less than half of what we initially had in June have made it to this winter break. The good thing is that, although they are one of the few species truly unique to our time in Albany (most other species at least have a regional counterpart in Ithaca), our hopes of breeding these was never high, so we will not concern ourselves too much with them. In the past, we have never been able to get the females to lay eggs in captivity, and even if we somehow managed to do it, we do not have easy access to live pipevine (Aristolochia spp.) plants in Albany or Ithaca. Even if we were to stay in Albany, the most logical thing to do if we really did want to continue rearing them would be to just collect a fresh stock of them come Spring where the eggs and larvae are extremely easy to find in big numbers; the same cannot be said of the eggs and larvae of the other native species mentioned in this post. The opthalmica, like the rutulus and anise, are very important. Not only are they the easiest of the three to breed, both in Albany and in Ithaca, we also have the largest number of them (200+), even after finding a few dead ones and one that had been fed on by some sort of flesh-eating fly larvae (presumably not parasites). We can afford to make mistakes with these so we are considering risk-splitting them with several treatments: some we will overwinter in the refrigerator, some we will keep outside, and some we might bring over to Ithaca. ![]() 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 (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 |