Rearing Catocala

[bobw]

I've been trying to rear as many species of Catocala as I can each year for the last few years. Now this years crop is off the boards I thought people might be interested to see the results. It's not an easy genus to rear, especially as I don't have access to any trees where I can sleeve them, so everything has to be done in tupperware containers with all the concomitant risk of bacterial or viral infections from condensation etc.

I started off with nearly 1200 ova of 20 different species. I had a hatch rate of about 55%, which I find is about normal for this genus; two species proved to be completely infertile. I then had a success rate after hatching of about 21%, which is a lot better than last year's disastrous results, but not as good as some previous years. I always seem to do better with the Juglandaceae feeders than with those that feed on other tree families.

I ended up with 138 adults of 14 different species, but with 5 of these I only got three or fewer adults.

2023 reared 1.jpg (730.62 KiB) Viewed 6777 times

2023 reared 2.jpg (575.49 KiB) Viewed 6777 times

[Chuck]

Impressive effort! Thanks for taking the time to photo & share.

[Trehopr1]

Wow ! That is quite a "Herculean effort" bob.
To think of you doing this now (for these past several years) is just amazing.

I cannot imagine there are many enthusiasts here in the US that undertake such an effort anymore.

Those Catocala maestosa which I see in the second photograph are an especially nice and BIG species to have gotten through to adults. One of the best amongst the "dark- winged" species for sure.

[bobw]

Yes, it is quite a lot of hard work. It basically means I can't leave home for more than a day between mid-April and mid-August, as I have to collect foodplants and clean out boxes every day.

I keep all the ova in the fridge over winter and take them out when I think the buds are going to burst. The maestosa are unusual as all the other species hatch within 9-15 days of taking them out of the fridge, but maestosa took 35 days to hatch. It's the second time I've reared them and they were the same both times!

[bobw]

Here is the result of this year's Catocala rearing efforts. I started with 1300 eggs of 18 species, 2 of which proved to be infertile. I got a 66% hatch rate, which is very good for Catocala, but because of the awful weather this year, I had exceptionally high larval losses and only got fewer than 70 adults out. However, there are a few good species, e.g. lupina, dejecta, luctuosa, whitneyi... Egg gathering has already started for next year.

2024 reared.jpg (286.25 KiB) Viewed 3963 times

[58chevy]

Amazing!

[bobw]

Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to get eggs now, so if anyone is able to supply eggs of any interesting species of Catocala next season, please let me know.

[Chuck]

Egg gathering has already started for next year.

I presume that means obtaining supplied eggs. I wouldn't know how to find eggs. Mature larvae are readily found wandering around here, but I've never bothered to overwinter them.

[bobw]

All Catocala overwinter as eggs, this is the easiest way to transport them as larvae wouldn't last long in the postal system. However, eggs would be almost impossible to find in the wild, so the only way to do it is to catch a gravid female and get her to lay.

[Chuck]

eggs would be almost impossible to find in the wild,

The reason I questioned it is because the first few times I read your post I thought you were out rummaging through the forest looking for eggs like Eurytides does. But Catocala would be worse and I just could not imagine that level of lunatic dedication.

[Trehopr1]

Spectacular job Bobw !

I cannot begin to imagine the amount of work that goes into seeing any of those through to adult. Wow....

I have always found females of Catocala to be far less encountered than males of any given species (generally speaking). Just this past July / August I was able to (day capture) 22 specimens (keepers) of Catocala junctura whilst missing about another 10 that got away. Of the twenty-two just 5 were females.