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:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang
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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:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang 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:
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![]() Authors Alan Liang 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:
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6/8: ![]() Authors Alan Liang 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 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 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:
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5/26: ![]() Authors Alan Liang 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 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:
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5/15: ![]() Authors Alan Liang 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 |
Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
August 2017 (49) July 2017 (121) June 2017 (79) May 2017 (77) April 2017 (91) March 2017 (35) February 2017 (12) January 2017 (10) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (49) September 2016 (84) August 2016 (94) July 2016 (99) June 2016 (53) May 2016 (21) April 2016 (4) January 2016 (1) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (2) June 2014 (3) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (3) December 2013 (2) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (11) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (9) June 2013 (5) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (2) February 2013 (3) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (2) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (5) July 2012 (1) June 2012 (1) 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 Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |