Starting at the BEGINNING........
Eggs! Here are eggs of Cecropia on the thin cardboard of a paper fast-food sack. I have included this Web address so those who received the eggs have a handy reference!
Let's say you start off with eggs, be it by mail, or someone hands you some, or you produce some eggs from your own stock - eggs in a paper sack, or lets say you find a really cool looking moth by a light for example, who gives you eggs after placing her in a paper sack (more about the "egg-giving" part later!), and you're ready for your first attempt at taking them thru to maturity! Well, we'll take a look at their humble beginnings in this section........ so let's get started!
First off, if the eggs are attached to an object when you get them, leave them attached! Most larvae emerge better when they have some sort of grip to hold onto as they pull themselves free from the egg shell, plus the added support helps to hold the egg in place so it won't "follow the caterpillar around" as it tries to escape from it! If this happens though, simply - yet gently - pick up the tiny helpless creature and give a gentle pull......... and the caterpiller often slips out with the additional help!
If the eggs are "loose" when you get them, that is, not attached to anything, try to roll them around as little as possible, and place them on a paper towel or something similar (not a leaf! More about that later), and watch them in hatching to make sure they make a safe exit!
Either way, it's best if the eggs are placed in a plastic container or zip-lock plastic bag. Don't blow your own air into it, as there'll be plenty of "natural" air in there for them, and besides it's better for them anyhow! Yes, each time you exhale, your own air has less oxygen, and too much moisture for the eggs. I change the air daily in the containers, and it seems to help, and also if you use a plastic container, be sure when you remove the lid, your eggs don't pop out all over your living room! If the container is that way, as far as the lid is concerned, choose another container!
Also totally avoid placing any leaves in the container until the eggs are hatched. From my own experience my eggs fail to hatch when leaves are in with the un-hatched eggs. Also when the eggs hatch, they usually hatch out fairly "close together"...... kinda like popcorn! First one will hatch...... then another...... then several, then a LOT....... then a few stragglers near the end. It's a MUST to leave them with the eggs till all are hatched, since most kinds eat at least part of their egg shell before they even THINK of a leaf!
Besides the 'INDEX" (listed below - and on ALL these pages), you will come across other "links" to click on here. These links ARE NOT JOE-LINKS, and therefore cannot vouch for their content, but all were "safe" sites at the time I put them on here!
