I bought a few Citheronia regalis cocoons for to much money then found eggs cheap grrr!!!
Hope you can see the detail in the cocoon
Regal Moths
here are the eggs. These make what are called hickory Horn Devils. I can't wait to grow these
WOW!!! Lots of eggs ya got there. That cocoon looks like a blob of tar :o) I do hope all those eggs hatch and all the caterpillars make it to adulthood. They are going to be some ferocious looking buggers!!! I can't wait to keep up with your postings!!! I expect lots of photos :o)
~ Cat
Cool Donna! Where are you getting them? and then how do you know if they live where you are....??I'd love to do some!
Adrienne
you have to look through the adds here for Ova that is for sale. Make sure the seller is in the U.S. their are lots of sellers from other parts of the world too. http://www.insectnet.com/cgi/newclassifieds/newclassifieds.cgi?session_key=&search_and_display_db_button=on&results_format=headlines&query=browse. I know they are here because i had one on the porch last year but you can also google for information on them and it will tell you their range
looks like some are fixing to hatch
we have our first Regal Moth cat this morning woo hoo!!!!!!!!! Freaky looking from the start
another view
more baby pics. Think they have all hatched now.
another
Donna - Your photos are fabulous! What great close-ups!!!! They are so cute!!!
like little aliens lol
Thank you for the birthing photos Donna!
my little aliens are growing fast
pic 2
I snapped this one just today Donna, it came to the lights last night....never seen a cat live though.
oh great shot Melody. I will keep you all posted on the cats progress. They are supposed to get pretty big and look like monsters lol. The cats are called Hickory Horn Devils
Donna - Your cat photos are awesome!!! :-) Is this what the cat from the moth photo that Melody posted looks like or is your cat a different moth?
Melody - What a WONDERFUL shot of the moth above! I love it!!! Looks like he's coming in for a landing! :-)
yes Becky that will be the moth. yes I love the photo Melody took. It is perfect
they are getting very big now
wow is this wicked looking or what
they are getting close now to cocooning. They are eating like non stop machines lol. See how big they are. It is fixing to turn blue. Wonder if that will be the last stage
kind of blurry but wanted you to see the colors on the legs
now they are escaping lol. I have 3 already digging under the dirt to pupate, one still running around in the bucket of dirt, and 3 or 4 more in the cage
all are pupated to cocoons now. Caught these finishing up just a minute ago
last one. Guess it will probably be spring before they eclose. only time will tell
well phooey I missed the just cocooned pic
Wow what an awesome process!!. What did you feed them and what did yo have them in? Is that peat moss for them to pupate in?
I will have to send my neighbor this link so he can provide dirt for his to pupate in.
Thanks for this link. Yvonne
Yvonne. I raised them on Sweet Gum in cages I make from embroidery hoops and wedding veil material. Then when they started roaming around the cage and escaping I dug some fresh dirt from the yard and put it in a bucket for them to burrow in. I had about 5" of dirt and some burrowed all the way on the bottom. You can use Pete Moss but be careful it doesn't have fertilizer in it. I drove 20 miles one way to town to get Pete and got home to find out it had fertilizer in it grrrrr. I just put them in the bucket of dirt as they were ready. They may go around in circles for a day before they decide to burrow. At first I tried putting them back in the cage but when they came off again I knew it was time. I have 12 cocoons total. I raised 6 to cocoon and bought 6 cocoons. Hope they eclose at the same time so there will be new blood in the gene pool.
Donnna, Keep us posted on the progress. This is really cool to watch.
Oh boy Donna! How fun!
HHDs are some really gnarly looking cats, and beautiful moths. I must have missed this when you first posted. Glad I caught it, I will be watching. :-S
Donna, those cats are soooo cool!
Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see the adults.
have had 2 eclose now plenty more to go
Oh WOW! That moth is beautiful! I love the red and the spots! So pretty!!!!
What a journey Donna. Thanks so much for sharing that with us. All of your pics are great. Love that they go to scary looking devils to such beautiful moths. Congrats and hope they all come out successfully.
Leslie
Thanks Donna! Ben and I really enjoyed your HHD / Regal Moth. We will keep watching for the rest of your progress!
Debnes
WOW!!! Just catching up with this post. It's been a long time - almost a year in the making right?
Awesome to see the whole sequence of events :o)
Sweet Gum you say? Hmmmm...the base is full of those trees but I haven't seen a single caterpillar - then again...there are thousands of trees...kind of hard to look over each one :o) Will have to double my efforts - I only have another week to go before I head back to Texas.
~ Cat
(Temporarily in Brunswick, GA)
yes Cat it has been a long time. Wish they would all eclose close to the same time so they can reproduce. I am only holding them 24 hrs before releasing
Thank you ladies for the comments. It is a very pretty moth and was a lot of fun