Category: Callosamia_promethea

Callosamia promethea L4 Rearing Notes (7/13/17-7/??/17)

7/21/2017

Rearing notes for our promethea moth (Callosamia promethea) fourth instar larvae. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts, May 2017.

Rearing Notes 7/13/17-7/??/17:

7/21:

Not good - the larva is visibly on the decline, having shrunk a little; it did not feed much today

7/20:

The larva has grown a bit though not significantly; it was resting on the top of the leaf today which is rather unusual

7/19:

The remaining larvae still looks alright and has fed some more; it looks slightly plumper and greener possibly, starting to become more convex dorsally

7/18:

Unfortunately, we did not foresee that the dryness outside would be problematic as one of the larvae got dehydrated and crawled into the flask and drowned; we sealed up the opening so the other one won't get in

7/17:

The fourth instars look okay so far, having fed a bit already (so hopefully no disease) and have grown a little
The larvae are solitary and rest alone on the center vein of the underside of the leaf

7/16:

The two larvae molted into fourth instar; we put them outside in the tent with cuttings in a flask - this time we'll make sure no wasps get in
Another third instar entered apolysis

7/15:

Another two larvae entered apolysis for fourth instar, one that had been in third instar for several weeks now that we assumed was diseased and another that is relatively young and hopefully is healthy

7/14:

Unfortunately, because we put the larva outside, even though it was in the tent, a European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) got in because the door wasn't zipped shut and killed it

7/13:

The larva molted into fourth instar after spending probably at least two weeks in third instar?
The fourth instar is quite different in appearance compared to the previous instar; most noticeably, the enlarged set of yellow thoracic tubercles have become bright red, elongated, and smooth with no spikes or black ring at the base; the yellow one at the rear has undergone the same transformation though remains yellow; the other obvious differences are that the small black tubercles have all been reduced, practically just spots and the body has become greenish and cleaner white
To save this larva from disease, we decided to put it on a cutting outside in the tent we had set up of Papilio rutulus oviposition

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea L3 Rearing Notes (6/23/17-6/12/17)

7/12/2017

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Rearing notes for our promethea (Callosamia promethea) third instar larvae. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts, May 2017.

Rearing Notes 6/23/17-7/12/17:

7/12:

Still in apolysis

7/11:

Surprisingly, though the older larvae seem indefinitely stuck in third instar (likely diseased), one of the younger ones is now in apolysis despite being smaller than many of the older ones - it measures about 25 mm while some of the others measure up to 30 mm; regardless of small size, hopefully this individual is not diseased based on its faster growth

7/7:

Again, no change, indefinitely staying in this instar - typical sign of disease in Saturniids

7/6:

Still feeding and producing frass but definitely declining in health it seems; several larvae of various ages have died off already

7/5:

Not much difference, really, must be diseased...?

7/4:

The larvae have grown slightly larger

7/3:

Larvae are still feeding surprisingly; they look full grown though...

7/2:

The largest larvae are quite large and plump now and may be full grown now - it's been quite long already; the base of the thoracic scoli are slightly swollen and raised and the body is greenish all over

7/1:

The body shape of the larger individuals is becoming more convex dorsally and flat ventrally
One of the larger third instars died with some discharge; based on the black stubs on two of its prolegs, it had been subject to leg tearing earlier in the instar and thus it is not surprisingly it had succumb to death

6/30:

The larvae are clearly becoming greenish beneath the white powder as seen when they elongate their bodies; even their head capsule seems to ave a green tinge

6/29:

The larvae have grown slightly larger; they were quite scattered when we checked on them today but somewhat regrouped

6/28:

Larvae are beginning to become turquoise dorsally, as seem in the powderless grooves between the segments
Unfortunately, several of the younger second instars appear to be diseased and have been dying off slowely

6/27:

Larvae look about the same size, though the white powdery coating seems to be getting thicker

6/26:

The larvae are truly making fine progress, becoming very plump and covered in white powder now

6/25:

The larvae still like to aggregate into small groups of five or so and feed together, though occasionally some will wander off and feed by themselves, only to come back and join the rest of the group some time later in the day

6/24:

Several more larvae molted into third instar; the ones from yesterday are already noticeably larger and whiter
Due to their very sticky crochets, we had a few accidental leg tearing, though surprisingly, even at this young age, the larva seem to heal quickly from the injury and continue feeding normally

6/23:

Five larvae molted into third instar today, spending a short six days in second instar
Quite typical of other Attacini species we've seen, the third instar is dramatically different in appearance from the first two instars and is beginning to resemble the mature look; the body has become smooth and white with no black bands, four of the dorsal thoracic scoli and the middorsal one at the rear have become large, yellow, and knob-like, the remaining scoli have become black, and the head and clasper have become bright yellow
The third instars are still semi-gregarious, somewhat attracted to each other when coming in close proximity, though don't seem to mind being alone either

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea L2 Rearing Notes (6/17/17-6/22/17)

6/22/2017

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Rearing notes for our second instar promethea (Callosamia promethea) larvae. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

Rearing Notes 6/17/17-6/22/17:

6/22:

Many of the largest second instars have entered apolysis; their integument is tight and their bodies are tense and compact
Full grown second instar length is 14 mm - quite impressive as we had thought this species was smaller than this based on the cocoons we received; this measurement is nearly on par with cecropias that measure 16 mm at this stage and quite a bit larger than ricinis that measure 10 mm

6/21:

The larvae have acquired a thin film of white powder characteristic of Attacini larvae on their dorsal sides
Based on how plump and tight the larvae's cuticles, are they're likely nearly full grown for this instar

6/20:

The larvae continue to become whiter and plumper, though maintaining large aggregations that cover a large area on the leaf

6/19:

The larvae have grown significantly since yesterday, devouring much larger amounts of sweet gum and becoming whitish in color

6/18:

The larvae have already grown quite a bit, becoming plumper and whiter in color

6/17:

Several larvae molted into second instar, after spending a very long nine days in first instar; nonetheless, they are all very strong and healthy looking, having already eaten and grown a bit since molting
The second instar appearance is similar to first instar but typical of Saturniidae, the scoli are all slightly enlarged; also, the yellow is slightly paler and the yellow bands on the head capsule are larger

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea L1 Rearing Notes (6/8/17-6/??/17)

6/16/2017

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Rearing notes for our first instar promethea (Callosamia promethea) larvae. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

Rearing Notes 6/8/17-6/??/17:

6/16:

A few of the larvae are finally preparing to molt to second instar, becoming plump with tight integuments and are surprisingly large, measuring about 9 mm
Five more larvae hatched

6/15:

The larvae are becoming increasingly green
despite becoming so plump, their prolegs still remain quite small and stubby and the ventral side is relatively flat, giving them a somewhat semi-cylinder shape
Surprisingly, two eggs hatched today, over a week since the majority of them did

6/14:

Larvae are much larger now, though there is slight size variation among aggregations

6/13:

The larvae have become plump and vibrantly colored; surprised they are still not preparing to molt yet given their fast growth

6/12:

The larvae continue to grow rapidly in tight groups, though a few larvae are wandering alone that are still very small so there is definitely a benefit to aggregating

6/11:

The larvae are yet again much larger than before, becoming plump and greenish, collectively making large holes and leaving behind mounds of frass
The aggregations constantly change, but are always very tight and neat

6/10:

The larvae are doing very well on the sweet gum and are growing rapidly - they are probably twice the size as they originally were
The larvae have formed very aggregations of various sizes on the underside of leaves, some quite large with over a dozen in the group; they feed together on the edges of the leaves much like ricini larvae

6/9:

The larvae on accepted the sweet gum, as thought, and have already made quite a few nibbles
Another 20 or so larvae hatched and were merged with the already existing aggregations of larvae

6/8:

See Promethea Eggs Begin to Hatch

Authors
Alan Liang

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Promethea Eggs Begin to Hatch

6/8/2017

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Our promethea (Callosamia promethea) eggs are beginning to hatch. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

About 12 days after the first eggs were laid, the little larvae are beginning to hatch - about 30 of them in total today. The larvae are quite small, at about 4 mm and are black with yellow stripes. Their tubercles are hairy and very small - almost unnoticeable, except for the four enlarged dorsal on the thorax and at the rear do not have yellow stripes to accompany them. After hatching, the larvae quickly aggregated to form large groups of 10 or so.

For the host plants, we weren't quite sure what to use. Promethea is highly polyphagous unlike the two other monophagous Callosamias, but like other polyphagous species, it likely has distinct regional preferences. Most sources list similar hosts as cecropia, which have plenty of, such as apple (Malus), plum (Prunus), sweet gum (Liquidambar), etc. We decided to offer them apple and plum, the two that we can sleeve them on in our yard, to see if they would take them. However, it quickly became apparent by nighttime that they weren't touching these two hosts, so we had to get some sweet gum to play it safe. Normally, promethea seems to have a preference for the Lauraceae and other aromatic hosts, so we thought the sweet smelling Liquidambar would have a better chance.

Authors
Alan Liang

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Promethea Eggs Have Become Gray

6/6/2017

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Our promethea eggs (Callosamia promethea) have become gray as the larvae approach hatching.

Just a quick update on our promethea eggs - they've already turned grayish which is a sure sign the larvae have already finished forming and are near hatching. Almost all look fertile except for one or two shriveled ones, but unfortunately we only have about 50-60 despite that the female must've at least had double that based on the size of the abdomen - it just wouldn't finish laying them for some reason (possibly too old?). We are quite surprised at how fast these developed as it has only been a little over a week for most of them. Seems just a little warmth from the incubator (75°F/24°C) really speeds things up.

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea Rearing Notes (5/26/17-5/30/17)

5/30/2017

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Rearing notes for our promethea moths (Callosamia promethea). This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

Rearing Notes 5/26/17-5/30/17:

5/30:

The female split with the new large male this morning and resumed laying eggs in the evening; we placed an apple cutting inside the container and it laid a few eggs on it
We started collecting all the eggs in a petri and counted 60+, so the female should still have a lot more in it; we placed the eggs in the incubator at 75°F/24°C to accelerate development

5/29:

The final cocoon eclosed into a large male; we hand-paired it with the already gravid female because we weren't very confident about its fertility after pairing with the old, weak male

5/28:

The female only laid a few more eggs, though it clearly still has hundreds

5/27:

The moths were already unpaired in the morning and the female began laying eggs at night; so far there looks to be a little over two dozen
The eggs are very small, about half the size of cecropia eggs, and look extremely similar to them as well, except white with small amount of caramel mottling from adhesive secreted by the female; they are laid in the same fashion as well, in small neat clusters

5/26:

See Callosamia promethea Pairing

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea Pairing

5/26/2017

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We have obtained our first promethea moth (Callosamia promethea) pairing. This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

Well, we thought it could've been a long shot before, but it looks like things worked out in the end. When we first received the promethea cocoons, we weren't extremely confident we would obtain eggs from them as there were only five of them. However, with the eclosion of the female yesterday and the three old males still alive, things started looking good - all we had to do was get them to pair.

Promethea typically pair during the late afternoon to evening which is when the female calls and the males are active, so we waited until 7 PM today, but unfortunately the male would not come to the female despite that she had been calling for hours. We could've continued waiting for another few days, but since Attacini moths are relatively easy to hand-pair, we thought, why not? So, while the female was still calling, we grabbed the male who opened its claspers immediately and it paired instantly when it made contact with the female's abdomen. However, the connection wasn't very firm the first time so they separated a few minutes later, but we just paired them up again in just a few seconds. For those also trying to hand pair prometheas or other Attacini, the key is in the angle that the moths' abdomens are brought together - it usually needs to be a sharp acute angle, probably around 30-60 degrees. Once they actually do pair up, they will usually rest at around a 90 degree angle.

Now that we have a pairing, we've almost guaranteed ourselves a hefty amount of eggs even if the final cocoon doesn't eclose or is male. We just hope we'll have enough plants to feed all the additional mouths we'll have to feed!

Authors
Alan Liang

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Callosamia promethea Rearing Notes (5/15/17-5/25/17)

5/25/2017

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Rearing notes for our promethea moths (Callosamia promethea). This stock originated as cocoons from Massachusetts.

Rearing Notes 5/15/17-5/25/17:

5/25:

Wow, after over a week since the males eclosed, the first female eclosed, this one from the largest of the five cocoons - we were beginning to fear the males would die the female didn't eclose soon
Being a sexually dimorphic species (the only one of the Attacini, actually), the female is strikingly different from the male, being a beautiful reddish brown with the typical Attacini discal spots; it is also much, much larger than the males, though the males we have are likely very small individuals regardless of their sex; the female's abdomen is also proportionately much larger and rounder
Promethea typically pair during the day (the male is a uniquely day flying moth), though the female had just eclosed and did not call today, though hopefully tomorrow they will pair; to help them out, we put them outdoors in a screen cage to give some air flow to carry the pheromes

5/17:

Another male eclosed - this time from the smallest cocoon of the five, though surprisingly it is slightly larger than the first male
Guessing the remaining cocoons are probably also males based on size, except for one which is much larger than the rest; it'll probably also take the longest to eclose due its large size

5/15:

See First Callosamia promethea Ecloses

Authors
Alan Liang

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First Callosamia promethea Ecloses

5/15/2017

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Our first promethea moth (Callosamia promthea) eclosed from cocoons we received just days ago from Massachusetts.

Wow, that was fast. We assumed these cocoons were fresh based on the condition of the leaves fixed to them but apparently not. We received them just last Friday and stuck them in the incubator at constant 77°F/25°C, and out comes the first one today.

The moth emerged from one of the smaller cocoons and unsurprisingly is an extremely small male. It's wingspan is puny at around just 50 cm - far lower than cited in literature. You can just see how small it is when compared to the hand in the photo. Looks like the stock we received wasn't good quality as is sometimes the case with trading, but as long as we can get eggs out of these five cocoons eventually, it doesn't matter if this guy's puny.

The moth is quite stunning despite its small size. This species is sexually dimorphic, with the males being black purportedly to mimic the toxic pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) as it flies during the day. It has a strong resemblance to the other Attacini moths, having similar wing shape and patterns. The wings of this species seem especially elongated though, more so than the Hyalophora and Samia species for sure. When the wings are folded, the hindwings are actually wider than the forewings, and when the wings are spread, the base of the hindwings must be folded down as there isn't enough space for them. The underside of the moth is a dark pinkish brown with white patterns. The male claspers are quite large on this species and open readily. Hopefully, this male isn't just some super early bird and others will follow in its emergence so we can get a pairing soon.

Authors
Alan Liang

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