Breeding
Tying out female moths, Mating moths placed in cages
Breeding......... Here you will be able to actually reproduce your stock - which means you have been totally successful in your rearing adventure, thus taking it "full-circle" back to the egg stage! Cooool!!
There are many aspects to breeding, and here we'll start with what's called "tying out". However this little trick can only be done if you've timed your stock to hatch out when the wild ones are on the wing as well! To do this, take one of your females and gently "harness" her with a strand of dental floss, and tie the other end to a stick, and around dark step outside and insert the stick into the ground, and she will produce a scent that will draw males into her - even from miles away! Depending on the time and place, she may draw in a male or two..... or many DOZENS of males!
After she finally settles down after the trauma of being "roped and tied", she will produce her scent, and before daylight of the coming morning she must be brought IN................ or a bird will find her, leaving you with but an empty string! If things worked out in your favor, when you go to get her, she will have attracted a male and will be mating when you find her! Now moths such as Cecropia don't mate until about 4:00 AM - after the sky starts to lighten a little and the birds are singing - so think carefully when it comes to bringing her inside, that she isn't brought in too early! If she is already paired with a male when you find her however, bring her inside of course!
A suggestion: After she is "harnessed", place the stick she's on in a container with soil so the stick is is perfectly upright, in case if in her panic she looses grip of the stick, she won't be left hanging in the mid-air! Plus when she is brought in, the container, moth and all, can be placed somewhere safe. Some species like Polyphemus must be moved VERY carefully, or the male will drop off out of fright, and will leave your female far behind!
A harnessed female Cecropia
When you harness a moth, it's best to gently tie a sliding loop around the place where the wings of the moth meet the body on one side, and when it's BARELY SNUG........ tie it in place at that tightness (it helps greatly if you have someone hold the moth for you while you do this!). If it's too tight, your moth will struggle and struggle in constant effort to get away, and if it's too loose......... your moth will get away during the night! Anyways your moth will always put up a struggle when it's first placed out, and she'll settle down afterwards, so it's always best to check up on her before turning-in for the night!
Also why dental floss??!
Because from my experience, it's quite simply the best stuff to use, as sewing thread is way too "tangly", while fishing line is way too stiff! Dental floss hangs nice and limp, it's not too heavy...... and over all makes for a much happier moth!
A rich reward! A harnessed Cecropia attracted a male during the early morning hours, as shown here!
CAGE REARING
Perhaps the BEST (and safest!) method I have ever used is a simple cardboard box, with the open end facing to one side, with a piece of screen securely taped (or thumb tacked) to it, covering the open end. The best size box to use is at least 2 - 3 ft. square, and it works best if no more than two pairs are placed in such a box at a time. (Rather than going into detail concerning sexing your moths, I'll try to find Web-links to help you with this. Want a hint?? It's easy to do! It's definitely easier than trying to determine the sex of baby chicks!).
After your pairs are placed in the box, and the screen is secured, place it in a dark room and look in there every couple hours to see how things are going! Try and avoid turning on any lights if possible...... and there should be enough light even in a dark room to see if any moths are mating! There's about a 99% chance they'll be on the screen - and thus very easy to spot - even in the dark!
Your moths will more than likely stay paired until late into the next day, and usually until that evening (except for Promethea - which mate in the daytime, as well as Eupackardia calleta, but even these are done by dusk!), and from here........ you are ready for the next step!
In the early evening (after 7 or 8 o'clock), go ahead and remove your mating pairs from the cage by gently grasping the female, and sometimes the male "goes along for the ride" and sometimes he doesn't. Anyways with or without the male attached, drop your female into an open paper sack, close the top, and wait several days! (A note: If you included an "attached" male, remove him in the morning, or even later that same evening when you hear fluttering inside the sack, indicating they have separated).
When you open the sack here's what you'll find - a slightly-tattered female......... and hundreds of eggs!! From just one moth you will be able to supply the whole neighborhood with eggs - and still have lots left over for yourself!! You are free to release you other moths if you'd like, and this will assure your females (and males) a better chance of breeding with "wild" stock.
If you have any wild-collected moths you got from cocoons from the previous winter, now is the time to pair them with your "brother/sister" stock, as this will give you a totally fresh bloodline!
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