Taking Sphinx Pupae Out of Overwintering

We have taken pupae of Darapsa myron, Hemaris diffinis, and Paonias myops, and eggs of Diapheromera femorata out of the refrigerator to break diapause as the growing season begins.

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Following up on the other species we have already taken out of the refrigerator on 5/1 and 5/8, we decided to take the remaining of our diapausing pupae out of the refrigerator, all native sphinx species: Darapsa myron, Hemaris diffinis, and Paonias myops. All the Darapsa myron and Hemaris diffinis pupae were clearly alive based on appearance and occasional movements. Two of the four Paonias myops pupae were clearly dead, leaving two live ones. We placed pupae from all three species on a paper towel and put a small wire cage over them for eclosion. 

We also took our northern walkingstick, Diapheromera femorata, eggs out of the refrigerator as well. We have no prior experience raising this species from egg, so we don't know when to anticipate hatching. 

Like the silkmoth species we took out on 5/1 and 5/8, we intend to obtain pairings from these pupae to begin this year's generation. We expect them eclose relatively quickly due to their small size, perhaps in two weeks, in early or mid June. Since Darapsa myron and Paonis myops are both highly multivoltine, wild males should probably be in flight at anytime should be attempt to call them in with the captive females. We are less sure about Hemaris diffinis though, which, although is definitely not obligatorily univoltine, appears to peak in flight around late summer.

Should we not attempt to call in wild males (which might actually be difficult since it would be tricky to create a cage with small enough holes that would prevent the female from escaping but large enough for the male to copulate with her since these are all relatively small sphinx species [though we could try]), simply letting the captive males pair with the females might be a viable option for these species. We are fairly confident that the Darapsa myron and Hemaris diffinis pupae are from multiple lineages (since they were wild obtained as eggs/larvae in various occasions) and thus inbreeding would not be a issue. The only problem would be the two Paonis myops (one male and female) pupae which are actually siblings.

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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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