Category: Cricula_trifenestrata

Cricula trifenestrata L2 Rearing Notes (6/27/17-6/29/17)

6/29/2017

Rearing notes for our cricula silkmoth (Cricula trifenesetrata) second instar larvae. Stock obtained as eggs, June 2017.

Rearing Notes 6/27/17-6/29/17:

6/29:

Sadly, upon checking on the larvae today, we discovered both lying dead and shriveled on the bottom of the container much like how the other ones died; can't think of any explanation for the deaths except that they didn't take well to the Rhododendron?

6/28:

Well, the larvae have paired together again and are feeding from the same hole; they are slightly larger than before

6/27:

Both of the larger larvae molted to second instar after spending eight days in first instar
The second instar is quite different from first instar in appearance, being orangish brown and hairier, with a large orange head
The remaining first instar died

Authors
Alan Liang

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Cricula trifenestrata L1 Rearing Notes (6/19/17-6/26/17)

6/26/2017

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Rearing notes for our first instar cricula silkmoth (Cricula trifenesetrata) larvae. Stock obtained as eggs, June 2017.

Rearing Notes 6/19/17-6/26/17:

6/26:

The two larger larvae entered apolysis and are 5 mm; one of the smaller ones died

6/25:

The two larger larvae look about full grown for this instar now and are very yellow; the other two are still straggling behind, one of which looks like it may die

6/24:

Two of the larvae in particular have grown significantly since yesterday while the otehr two are still quite small; unusual how there is such a quick divergence in size even at this young stage

6/23:

Still hard to tell if larvae are slightly gregarious or not, as two of them, sometimes joined by a third, are consistently feeding together every time we check
The larvae eat larger holes, producing many fecal pellets probably because of poor utilization of the host; nonetheless, they seem quite healthy and are much larger than they once were

6/22:

Unfortunately, a few more larvae desiccated despite settling down on the Rhododendron already, so now we're down to a measly four larvae; hopefully we can pull these ones through though - they're doing quite good so far
The larvae are very sedentary, hardly ever moving around on the cutting

6/21:

Despite hardly eating yesterday, the larvae are actually doing quite well on the Rhododendron now!; there are decently sized holes and the larvae are noticeably larger and paler in color

6/20:

Wow, we didn't expect these things to be so picky; of the six different hosts we offered them - Salix, Quercus, Rhododendron, Prunus, Malus, Liquidambar - they ended not touching a single one except the Rhododendron which had a few minuscule nibbles on it; we took out all the remaining hosts and put any wandering larvae, four of which had already desiccated, onto the Rododendron

6/19:

See Cricula trifenestrata Eggs Hatch

Authors
Alan Liang

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Cricula trifenestrata Eggs Hatch

6/19/2017

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Our cricula silkmoth (Cricula trifenesetrata) eggs have hatched.

Twelve of these little larvae hatched today. They are quite interesting, like really like any of the North American Saturniid hatchlings we have seen. They are bight yellow with brownish black heads and prothoracic shields, with hairy, uniformly sized tubercles. They are quite small, measuring about 3 mm in length. We're not sure if they are gregarious or not, as sometimes they seem to aggregate into small groups, but other times are just wandering alone.

Finding a suitable host plant for these larvae might be tricky. Lots of hosts are reported to work in captivity, such as Salix, Quercus, Rhododendron, Prunus, Liquidambar, etc., but they might not actually take them. We actually have access to all the hosts just mentioned, so well offer all of them to the larvae to see what they will eat.

Authors
Alan Liang

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Cricula trifenestrata Eggs

6/16/2017

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Our cricula silkmoth (Cricula trifenesetrata) eggs have arrived.

Now this is something that we never thought we'd have the chance to rear. The cricula silkmoth is an old world Saturniid flying in tropical parts of Asia and is used for silk production in India. It's not the biggest Saturniid, but is very unique and should be easy to rear.

The eggs came today and were already close to hatching. Many had become gray on one side (the head), with a small black dot. The eggs that hadn't turned grey were a pale coral color. The eggs are quite small, measuring about 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide. They are wider on one end then the other, the wider end being the head side.

Nothing they naturally eat in their native range is available to us here (probably tropical plants like cashew and mango, etc.), but they accept many alternatives in captivity that should be easy to get. Hopefully, we'll find something they take when they actually hatch.

Authors
Alan Liang

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