Rearing notes for our third instar Atlas Moth caterpillars (Attacus atlas). These were originally obtained as eggs originally sourced from Indonesia, and reared indoors on Privet (Ligustrum). ​

Rearing Notes 11/12/16-11/??/16:

- Alan

Rearing notes for our second instar Atlas Moth caterpillars (Attacus atlas). These were originally obtained as eggs originally sourced from Indonesia, and reared indoors on Privet (Ligustrum). ​

Rearing Notes 10/22/16-11/9/16:

- Alan

Our first Atlas caterpillar (Attacus atlas) has ecdysed into second instar.

After a day in apolysis, our first atlas caterpillar ecdysed into second instar. Like with most other Saturniidae, the second instar looks quite different from the first instar. The first instar was mostly black ventrally and laterally and white dorsally. It has a black capsule and small, mostly uniformly size tubercles with setae at the tips. In contrast, the second is mostly white in color except for the ventral side, and the shade of white is brighter. The black on the ventral side and  head capsule have been replaced with reddish brown. There also a few small, mottled patches of reddish brown on the lateral side. The tubercles are now much longer and hairless, and are more cone shaped. Unlike in first instar in which all the tubercles were white, the first three lower lateral tubercles on each side are slightly gray. The true legs are black. 

The individual spent eight days in first instar from 10/13-10/21 which is quite long for first instar. Most other Saturniidae we have reared spent at most a week in first instar. Perhaps it is the low temperatures (60-70 during the day) that are causing the slow growth rate, or maybe this is just normal for Atlas caterpillars. 

On another note, 12 other caterpillars (nine shown above) entered apolysis and will probably ecdyse tomorrow, meaning they haven't diverged in age too much yet which is a good thing. Hopefully we will have minimal losses as these get bigger since the remaining eggs are obviously dead and we only have 17 caterpillars right now. 

- Alan

Rearing notes for our first instar Atlas Moth caterpillars (Attacus atlas). These were originally obtained as eggs originally sourced from Indonesia, and reared indoors on Privet (Ligustrum). 

Rearing Notes 10/14/16-10/20/16:

- Alan

Our Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) eggs have begun to hatch.

Nine of our thirty atlas moth eggs hatched in late morning today. The neonate larvae are black on teh ventral side and yellowish white on the dorsal side. It has thin, fleshy scoli along the entire body, having two dorsal rows and two lateral rows on each side. The head capsule is black and shiny. It looks like any typical Attacini hatchling except the tubercles are quite large relative to its body and are fleshy and long unlike the stubby tubercles of the Hyalophoras or Calleta neonate caterpillars. After hatching, several nibbled on their eggshells and even attempted eating teh shells of unhatched eggs. We removed them from the petri dish we had put all the eggs in and placed five and four in two large petri dishes respectively. Then, we got two Privet (Ligustrum) leaves, stuck their petioles sin a tube of water, and placed them in the dishes. So far, they have still been wandering around aimlessly but hopefully they will settle down and eat some of the Privet by tomorrow. 

- Alan

Our Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) eggs arrived today from an Italian breeder. They were originally sourced from Indonesia.

Today we had 30 Atlas moth eggs arrive from a breeder in Italy. They arrived sealed in a small petri dish and upon opening it, one had collapsed already but the rest looked plump and alive. They are a mottled pinkish brown color and are mostly round and flat on the bottom. This is the second time we have purchased Atlas Moth eggs in four years, the first time of which all the eggs hatched or died during shipping. This time, international shipping was fairly quick, taking just 11 days, so the eggs didn't hatch yet and will probably do so within the next 3-4 days or so. 

Regarding some background information about the Atlas Moth, it is found in Southeast Asia and is the second largest moth in  the world in terms of total wing surface area after the related Hercules moth (Coscinocera hercules), with wingspans reaching 11 inches. Despite having such large wings, it simply has a large wing to body size ratio and is not nearly the largest moth in terms of body mass. The Atlas Moth has brown wings with large transparent windows on each wing and snake-like heads on the forewings. The larva is whitish green with fleshy scoli with a waxy powder coating much like the related Samia, Acheoattacus, and Coscinocera caterpillars. They feed on a wide range of deciduous hosts in their native Southeast Asian tropics, but will accept Privet (Ligustrum) and Prunus in captivity like most Attacini caterpillars. Speaking of which, Attacus is the type genus for the Attacini tribe since the members of the genus are considered very typical of this group of Saturniids. Looking at the other Attacini moths, they do indeed bear quite a resemblance to the Atlas Moth, especially the Rothschildia which are said to be New World relatives of the Attacus genus. 

We decided to have a go at this species since it is such a popular species in Europe and Asia (sort of like the Cecropia Moth in the U.S.), and has such an incredible wingspan that would be quite a sight in real life. We plan to feed the caterpillars Privet since it is evergreen here. This species is considered to be relatively easy to rear under warm and humid, though this makes it tricky to prevent disease. Either way, we decided to try it anyways, since at least we have a chance of success. A while ago, we said that the White-lined Sphinxes was going to be the last non-local species we would obtain this year, but we sort of lied (gotta have some more self restraint...). But really, this time the Atlas Moth will definitely be the last one since deciduous trees around here are senescing.