Speyeria nokomis

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Papilio_indra
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Speyeria nokomis

Post by Papilio_indra »

On August 30 I collected this female S. nokomis in northeastern Utah and set her up using the paper bag method to obtain 40+ ova. One larva hatched today and the rest should follow tomorrow. She is from a colony known for it's larger than normal sized adults and I hope to rear these through to adulthood next summer. The forewing length on this individual is 46 mm in length however 49 mm specimens are fairly common. At one time they were considered the nominate subspecies but confusing recent DNA interpretations by some say otherwise.
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Trehopr1
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by Trehopr1 »

Beautiful species --- and unique indeed.

You are one lucky fellow to not only collect the species but, to be able to potentially get a bunch more raised next summer !
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kevinkk
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by kevinkk »

A nice butterfly, looks a lot like our S. cybele leto females. Last season I found a field full of males and 1 female, the flight window must be short,
we went there this season and saw no Speyeria. An unusual life cycle, I didn't know butterflies would lay in a bag, gives me some hope next time
around.
Chuck
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by Chuck »

I hope it works out for you. I'd love to see a report over time, showing the larvae and your methods. We have a great asset in this forum, and I wish there would be more info sharing and collaboration. Personally, I sometimes use it to log my own notes, even if nobody is reading I have a one-stop reference!
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jhyatt
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by jhyatt »

My admiration for people who can successfully rear Speyeria species is endless! The late Irving Finkelstein used to rear S. diana, keeping the 1st
instar larvae in tiny holes drilled into a wood block, but I never learned what his success rate was. As probably the lepidoptera world's worst rearer, who can't even get a black swallowtail out without deformity, I wish you luck and hope to see the occasional progress report on these.

Cheers,
jh
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mothman55
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by mothman55 »

I am also surprised that the female would lay in a paper bag. That is the common method for moths, especially silk moths, just put the female in a bag and you will have ova in a day or two. But butterflies, I have always put the female on its food plant and covered with netting, ensuring the plant was touching the top of the netting so the butterfly would come into contact with the plant. And feeding the butterfly daily until it produced ova. Anyone else had success putting a butterfly into a paper bag?
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by Chuck »

Of course I've paper bagged Saturnids and Sphingids. It never occurred to me to try a butterfly. I have never read of anyone trying it with a butterfly, this is the first time. A paper bag is much easier than keeping live plants and netting, so this has me wondering what other genera will it work with? Of course, I'll have to wait nine months to test it myself.
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by Papilio_indra »

Putting female fritillaries in a #8 brown paper bag is the most common method for collecting ova from these butterflies. Some people put a few dried violet stems and leaves in the bottom of the bag as well but it's not necessary. Sometimes they'll lay eggs on the dried violets but usually not. The bagged female is placed in direct sunlight in the morning hours and she'll lay eggs on the sides of the bag. After the eggs hatch in 11 to 13 days the larvae eat only their egg shells and then begin to diapause as first instar larvae. The hard part about rearing Speyeria is keeping the larvae at the right temperature and humidity over the winter as they are very susceptible to desiccation or mold, both of which are usually fatal. Ideally they should be kept refrigerated in the dark at 5 C and about 40% RH. Once their diapause requirement is fulfilled in the spring they are easily reared on potted violets of their natural host plant. S. nokomis requires Viola nephrophylla as it is their only native host plant. I have to collect the seeds myself ahead of time and grow out the plants as their are no commercial seed sources for this species in the United States. They can be reared on other native violets, such as V. adunca, however the larvae will require about 50% more time to develop and the adult butterflies will generally be quite stunted. I'll post updates to this project.
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jhyatt
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by jhyatt »

I've read that S. diana females scatter their eggs at random on the ground in areas with the right violets, as opposed to placing them on the foodplant itself... so it wouldn't be terribly surprising to learn that they would deposit eggs in a paper bag. Does anyone know if this indiscriminate egg deposition is actually true of S. diana, and if any other Speyerias do the same?

Curious,
jh
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Re: Speyeria nokomis

Post by kevinkk »

jhyatt wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 8:03 pm I've read that S. diana females scatter their eggs at random on the ground in areas with the right violets, as opposed to placing them on the foodplant itself... so it wouldn't be terribly surprising to learn that they would deposit eggs in a paper bag. Does anyone know if this indiscriminate egg deposition is actually true of S. diana, and if any other Speyerias do the same?

Curious,
jh
Speyeria cybele leto lays the same way, they drop ova on or near the food plant, the larva hatch and then overwinter. When I first read the lifecycle,
it was "interesting".
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