Look what I got!

This female Polyphemus came to the lights last night and I helped her into an empty water pitcher for the night. After her stay in such posh accommodations, I set her free this morning and took her picture.


Now....what to do....she left me with several gifts. She laid eggs in the water pitcher! Where do I need to place them in relation to the host plants to assure the best survival?

host plants are most oaks, maples, elms, fruitwoods...(about all trees in my area) Since they weren't laid on the tree....where do they go? Leaves would fall to the ground this winter..or do they go on the bark?

These are so uncommon around here, I hate not to give the eggs their best chance.

Gorgeous!! Cannot help question though.

Melody - You might want to read this thread if you haven't already:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/737027/

Maybe others here can give you some suggestions, too! :-)

~Becky~

Melody she is just beautiful!

Yes, she is beautiful, I had one last year and I was amazed at its beauty.

Melody, great find, she's gorgeous!

I found this Polyphemous cat last year and put it in my reptarium, hoping it would continue its cycle. It wouldn't eat and would walk around the cage over and over, so I thought it wasn't happy and released it on an Oak tree. It took a long time to climb up that tree too....they are slow cats, I thought I could probably climb it faster lol.

Here's what it looked like, they get big too!

That is absolutely gorgeous, Melody!

Melody,
Leave them right in the pitcher .If you can keep an eye on the eggs and when or if they hatch just put some very tender (newly formed)leaves from the host and put them right next to the eggs and hope they will crawl onto the leaves.If they just crawl onto the pitcher just take an artist paint brush and scoop them up and place them on the leaves and then hope they start eatting.They most likely will eat the egg casting first . If they start eatting then you can raise them or place them on their host plant and let nature decide. Good Luck Don

Oaks and Wax Myrtle are the most common host but will eat lots of others too. Big Congrats you lucky girl

Wow, that's an amazing moth! Hope the eggs hatch!

Wow, what a beauty!

Thanks for the info...I wasn't planning on actually raising them, but I'll be more than happy to let them hatch and transfer them to a host plant.

Which oak is best...we've about 12 different ones in sight of my house...3 different kinds of maple, we've sassafras and elderberry too. I'll probably give them new growth elderberry at first because the oaks are pretty tough this time of year.

How long till they hatch? Should they be inside in the AC, or outside in the 90+ temps?

7 to 14 days I think is the usual

Question?? Are you sure they are eggs and not poop?? The Male Luna with damaged wings I have in the cage has a bunch of stuff that looks like eggs from him but i know there is no way even if it were female because it hatched by itself and went into the cage. no others were in the room

here is a link for host plants for it
http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/xpollarv.htm

Eggs or poop?

lol Melody
I will get mine out of the cage to take to take pic for comparison. I have some Poly eggs coming but haven't arrived yet so don't know what they look like for sure

Melody!
Oh! Im jealous!! Keep at it...i'd love to see!

Adrienne

It's got to be eggs because I don't think butterflies and moths actually poop like when they are in the caterpillar/larva stage. I think when butterflies/moths relieve themselves it's liquid. I'm pretty sure about this! (But have been known to be wrong, too!)

DEFINITELY .. the EGGS!
And they won't change color either, as many eggs of the butterflies and moths will.

- Magpye

Kind of looks like my Luna Poop to me. Melody you do what ever is in your heart to do. Keep them for a couple of weeks in container with some dry leaves and wait or throw out. It's up to you

This message was edited Jul 9, 2007 9:37 PM

Re: Luna Moths

Magpye I know none of the Silk Moths eat. I had one Luna hatch in the screened porch. Its wings didn't come down so I made a brand new cage and put him in there waiting for the others to hatch so they could mate and that is what he is doing in the cage. Pretty sure it is a male and even if it was female it has not mated because it is the only one

Hmmm...whatever it is is still in the water pitcher....I'll send the image to my contact at Western KY University. He specializes in butterflies and moths. To my untrained eye, they sure look like eggs, but Donna makes a very strong case with her image.

I just don't want to pitch them in an inhospitable place if they are eggs. They deserve a chance.

Melody my Poly eggs are supposed to be on the way so maybe in a few day they will be here so we can see for sure what they look like for

If they are eggs...does anybody want some?

OHHHH! Me!!! But how would you send? Would they survive??I don't want to hurt anyone..


Adrienne

Melody if you are going to ship them to someone you better ship priority tomorrow. My Luna and Antheraea hatched within days of my recieving them. Don't know yet how fast the Poly hatches but 7 to 10 days is a good rule of thumb. Just in case they should hatch along the way put in some fresh, clean, dried leaves. Just my 2 cents worth

Might be stretching it a bit since these are a few days old....if we had 2 weeks then there might be a chance.

Guess I'll be better off to wait these out and see if they hatch...next time, I'll get right on the ball and let ya'll know.

Oh well Melody...I'll just have to settle for your pictures!!

Adrienne

I wish I knew more about this. That's why I'm picking a few forums to haunt this summer that I don't normally go to. My vegetable garden is a bust because of the drought, so I thought I'd learn something this summer instead of crying over spilled milk.

I have to say, this has to be one of the friendliest and helpful forums here at DG. You all are eager to help newbies and are very considerate of each other. My hat's off to everyone who makes this forum the asset that it is.

Awesome moth!!! Thanks for sharing. I do hope to follow posts about rearing those eggs :o)

~ Cat

They look a little dry and shrunken this morning. I have fresh leaves in the container, but they just don't look right.

Melody, do you mean the eggs look dry?

Perhaps, the females' eggs were never fertilized, Mel.

There are quite a significant number of insects that lay fertilized and unfertilized eggs.

Such, may be the case with the (possible) Luna eggs that were mentioned above also.

- Magpye

Yes, the eggs look dry and have shrunk a little.

Melody you have eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mine arrived today and are much bigger than what I thought was Luna Poop

I may not be the brightest lightbulb in the fixture of life - but, good-ness!!

Now, miss Donna .. ya should know, that this was a comin' ...
" Wellllll, 'duh'! " .. LOL ..
(and yes ma'am: I am merely luvin'ly teasin' ya a bit)

((huggs))

- Magpye

Yep, those look like mine! I just hope they're alive.

BABIES HATCHING!!!! (Film at 11..*snort*)

oh cool Melody. Good luck