Newbie at raising cats.

Debnes, it's long after night fall (sunset around 6'ish here), and my T.S. moth still not flying off. If it's a female, will she just sit there and wait for her prince to come and get her?

....that's so cute, her prince........

Congrats on the Tersa. I can't tell if it is male or female though. Are you able to see the antenna? Males have a bushier or furrier/bigger antenna...all the better to hone in on female pheromones. Females also seem to have a bigger, plumper abdomen.

Females will usually be not very active. They will find a high perch and call to a male.

The female Forbes' Silkmoth that I had crawled to the top of a sapling I'd put into the reptarium to call to a male. I placed the cage on top of a bench out in the back yard. She started calling to a male around 8pm. I read they usually call from 8pm to about 2pm. If a male shows up you can unzip the cage flap and let him in.

~ Cat

~Cat,
I have left the door open all day long in hope that it would fly off. I've seen these moths feeding on my Pentas during daylight, although, most of those I saw were brown, and not orange looking like this one. And, no the big fuzzy antenaes wasn't visible.

This message was edited Oct 22, 2007 10:47 PM

Tersas love pentas. Guess you'll be seeing more now that they've found a breeding ground in your yard :o)

To sex pupae (cocoons) Paul Villard states in his book (Moths and how to Rear Them), "If the fourth segment below the one covered by the bottoms of the wing cases is notched, lined, or broken in any way, the pupa is female. If the segment is intact then it is a male."

I never remember to check when I have a pupa...but will keep this in mind if I get any sphinx cats that pupate. Won't be able to tell with the Forbes' Silkmoths as the caterpillars spin a silk cocoon and enclose their pupa in it.

~ Cat

The segment that was left behind, at the wing is broken. So it's a female?

I hope this pic. turns out better?

Last one...

Great job Kim!! She's perfect!

Applauds and whistles!!!

debnes

Ah now I can go to sleep and have sweet dream. Now that I know I've a baby girl. lol.
Many thanks debnes.
Kim

Kim,

Either I need new glasses or the pupa casing photos are a tad blurry :o) I can't tell from the photos. If you looked at the underside to the segment mentioned and saw it had a notch or something that breaks up that segment then it was a female. Good thing you saved the pupa casing. I never did that and when I went back to review my photos I couldn't tell because I never got a good underside shot.

Either way, it's a beauty!!! Am sure you'll be seeing more. The caterpillars are quite awesome...I love those different colored morphs.

~ Cat

~Cat,
The pics. are indeed quite blurries. I'm happy that it's a girl. The beauty is off on its own. Letting go so it can spread its wings! It rained last night, I kept her in her cage with the door open, and this morning I no longer see her. I'll keep my camera handy, and hope to find her hovering over my Pentas. :-)

Wow, she flew off!!!! You're an empty nester (for now), boo hoo...... I feel so empty, not having any more butterflies to look forward to releasing.

Not to worry, I've roughly a dozen of the G.F. cats. out in the garden, one has pupated, it looks kinda dark in 12 hours. I rained today, yesterday but everything seems honky dories. I'll continue to update their progress.
....
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/782110/


This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 7:01 PM

Thea.. It is getting the same here. Turning colder and butterflies are hibernating and leaving for winter. This is when I can start planning for next year.

I feed the birds all year long, but right about now you will see a lot of unusual migrating birds if you look for them. Plus we can watch Cat and Becky in their big season of butterflies that stay in South TX and FL. We all share in the collective experience.
Not as "yours and mine", or "theirs and mine" ........but "ours". :-)

This keeps me in awe until spring arrives, and some of the birdies actually stay here for winter. Maybe you will have some stay there too. SC is a great place for birds.

I found a routine, so that I don't miss the butterflies as much.

Here is one of my favorite winter visitors>
http://www.theletteroflove.com/photography/?p=3

debnes

I keep my feeders up year round too, debnes. Hubby moans and groans about having to buy seed all the time, but he knows how well worth it is to me. I love my little pals. This little Kinglet is so beautiful, I don't think I've ever seen one! I'll be keeping my eyes open for him. I've been seeing a lot of flickers this past week, and the red bellied woodpecker too, who seemed to have disappeared over the summer. And we finally got some MUCH needed rain today, yay!!!!!!!!

Great Thea!
The Kinglets like insect suet and they even sip hummer water from a special feeder I put up with an open trough. The warblers like both of those things too. Neat to watch them wait their turn, reminds me so much of the hummers.

debnes

I raised alot of brugs this year....the birds seem to hunt for most of the greenish "inching cats" off of my brugs' leaves. As it get colder here, maybe we won't need to put up feeders. Oh, yes, I'll have to for those tender plant are going into the greenhouse, so does the Pentas. Here I go, bird feeders for the winter months. lol.
Cat, are those little caterpillars morph into sulphurs? I've seen quite a few of those around.
Kim

I've been babysitting these cats...roughly a dozen of them to keep them safe from predators outdoor. Today, I've my very first G.F. eclosed! I'll post a pic. and see about release it to the wild. The weather is beautiful out there.

She's gorgeous, Lily! Congrats!!

Thank you Felicia, I'm so excited, I'm not sure how long should I wait before I let it goes? Can you help?

Well, I bit the bullet and let my baby goes! I let her/him crawls on to my finger. She hung for dear life, and didn't fly off inside the house. (chuckles!), I brought her outside and let her onto my Ballerina Rose. :-)

This message was edited Nov 13, 2007 12:07 PM

She mustn't have eclosed for very long, because I didn't think about her having to dry her wings out before she's capable of flying off....I stood there and watched her drying out her wings, she was just very graceful, let me very close with the camera while she was posing for the pic. Let's take a look at her full beauty!

This message was edited Nov 13, 2007 11:36 AM

There you go! What a beauty!
My problem is that the butterflies I've released have usually eclosed early in the day, so when I get home from work, they've been ready to go, because they'll flutter about their cage.

I know, I know, it would have been awesome if we could have witnessed it getting out off the chrysalis. Have you seen one during the process? I've others cats. and pupae that I'm raising, I'll keep a closer watch on those fellas.

Your GF is a beauty Lily!!! I hope next year I can grow some maypop and host the GF's! My book doesn't mention how to tell male from female but I'm sure someone on the forum knows?

I hope Cat~ or Debnes will visit my post and helps out. I've plenty of Maypop seedlings to share in the spring if you haven't gotten any yet.
Just promise you're not going to be mad at me for Maypop has a tendency to tunnel under ground and "Pop" up everywhere. If you like me, live in the country, enjoy natural garden styles, we'd have no problem. Just pull them up where they don't belong, yet have plenty for the beautiful butterflies to enjoy as well.

Thank you Lily, you're very sweet!!! Another DG'er sent me some seeds, but if I don't do well with them, I'll keep you in mind!! I can't wait to try them out and I'm not worried about their invasiveness (maybe I'll eat my words in a year!!). I'm retired, and don't mind spending time pulling up stuff that pops up where it shouldn't, though I usually just let them be until they crowd out something else too much.

Ditto, currently I'm trying to root some vines, one of my experiment is with Maypop (just for the fun of it). Drop me a dmail next spring for some if you remember. Also, keep in mind. Even in my zone, these vines doesn't pop their head through the ground until sometimes in May. Once they're established, they're on their own without winter protection. Happy raising Cats.....I'm.
Kim

Beautiful job Kim!

Thanks for the PV offer! I will be taking you up on it in Mar/Apr. I don't mind an "invasive" host plant, LOL! Love the natural wild look here. The butterflies definitely love it!

debnes

Ok, I'll have several rootings going during the winter. Will mark them down for you Debnes and Thea.
Your zone is one above mine, you're so lucky to be able to enjoy those b.f. much longer than where I'm.

Mighty nice of ya Kim!!

Thank you!

debnes

Hey, it's a tradition in the South, we don't say "Thank you" when we receive plants as gift, for they'll not survive....so, just smile big when you get the plants. lol.
Kim