We have received ceanothus silkmoth (Hyalophora euryalus) eggs of northern California origin. Ah yes, Hyalophora euryalus - the pride of the Pacific coast when it comes to Saturniidae. This large red moth is one of the largest in North America and a close relative to the better known eastern cecropia moth (H. cecropia). We've always wanted to rear and breed this species since we were little. Last summer we managed to get a handful of eggs to try, but since this species is a very disease prone and challenging species to rear, they all died off in the third or fourth instar. Several factors likely caused us to be unsuccessful, the main culprits probably being the lack of airflow due to indoor closed container rearing, and the overly high humidity which we discussed in this post. Well, this year we have received another batch Hyalophora euryalus eggs and we have high hopes for our second rearing attempt for a number of reasons. First off, we will be rearing the larvae much earlier in the season than last year, about the same time that wild populations would be breeding around here. Thus, weather conditions couldn't be more favorable. Also, these euryalus originated from a local source not too far from our home, and thus they are well adapted to living in our exact climate and area. These two factors alone should hopefully boost our chances at least a bit for this tricky species. We have also learned from our mistakes in the past, which should definitely help us out this year. Although outdoor sleeve rearing would be ideal, we do not have any hosts on our property so we will probably be forced to rear indoors again this year unless we get a potted host. But, this time we will make sure to give them some good ventilation in their containers by giving this screen lids and possibly putting them by a window. We'll also make sure to keep the humidity down but make sure the food stays fresh. This should minimize the risk of disease. Finally, we might experiment with new hosts this year that the larvae may do better on. Last year we just used the standard ceanothus (Ceanothus) which is extremely common here in California, and is a common wild host for the moth. However, the cuttings wilt quite quickly and the leaves usually get covered in mildew or are in poor quality as the season drags on. Thus, we might try willow (Salix) this year which is also common around here, but unlike ceanothus, will store well when placed in water and always has very vigorous, high quality foliage all season. We might also consider Prunus as it is a good host in general for Hyalophora, but it doesn't seem to be as commonly used by euryalus in the wild as other hosts. If we could find some around here, we could also consider madrone (Arbutus) or manzanita (Arctostaphylos), but we probably won't be able to. Anyway, here are the eggs below. They are quite large and oval like other Attacini eggs. The ground color is a tannish off-white mottled messily in brown, probably both as a pattern of the shell and from the adhesive secreted by the moth. Interestingly, they don't look quite the same as the ones from last year, which had a darker ground color, were a more purplish shade of brown, and had less messy, crisper mottling. It is likely due to the differences in the strains' geographical origins. ![]() Authors Alan Liang
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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 |