Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 62, 1 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Funny photo Sherry!!!

At least the eggs will be easy to remove from the plastic. I always keep the female in one of the reptariums and put in a another ash sapling when she's done mating and I release the male.

I also hang large strips of brown paper on three of the sides and sometimes just toss in or crumple up or coil large pieces of the brown paper (as opposed to using paper towels which are white and well, it's hard to find a white egg on a white paper towel!). The females I've had are pretty good at laying eggs on the leaves of the potted larval host saplings and the brown paper - but they also lay eggs on the mesh if they happen to get between that and the brown paper. Am able to cut around the eggs on the paper and tie that piece of paper onto the larval host plant. It's a bit harder to remove the eggs from the mesh - more so when they are squeezed into the mesh holes - but over the years I've learned to push one of the plants right up next to the eggs so the hatchlings will climb onto the leaves. Must be careful though - last October I had the teeny instars crawling out through the mesh!! Have learned to move those caterpillar-laden leaves into a plastic container until they are big enough not to fit through the mesh :o)

I've read about the paper bag method and know a few moth-men that use that method - but I just don't like the thought of having a female bagged up! At least in the reptarium she gets to pick and choose the leaves and gets a bit of fresh air.

Oh...and the happy couple are still at - it's been about 20 hours. I don't think I could handle being a moth! Heh! Heh!

The caterpillars are voracious eaters as they get bigger and bigger but the neighbors both have huge ash trees that I trim and prune to keep the cats happy. I raised a bunch last year and it was a chore but am still going to raise as many as I can so I can release them at the ranch. I've found cocoons on the native colima bushes but never have been able to find caterpillars. The more moths out there the merrier!!!

Also, already have a moth-man lined up who wants to raise these. We missed hooking up last October when he was down in these parts and I had eggs but I did ship a dozen or so cocoons a few months back. They have been emerging for him too but days apart and for some strange quirk of luck they were males and one female that did eclose wasn't able to attract a mate.

~ Cat