Breeding: Boloria improba

[wolf]

I decided to post this breeding report showing the lifecycle of Boloria improba ssp. improbula from Norway. The catch being that i actually haven't completed the lifecycle a 100% yet, as i'll explain further down. So i collected a female in july last year. She readily laid eggs in the presence of Salix herbacea, which is the hostplant. The eggs hatched after 6 days. A few of the larva went into hibernation as L2, but most hibernated as L3. However, one larva actually went all the way to pupa in the same season. It used alittle over 4 weeks as a larva before pupating the 17th of August. Unfortunately i managed to damage the pupa when taking photos, which killed it. So i never got any imago. It would be interesting to see if the pupa would've hatched the same season or if it hibernated, but i'll never know. Anyway, I do have alot of larva that is currently hibernating, so i hope i will be able to complete the lifecycle 100% this summer and get adults.

Adult female feeding on honeywater:


Egg:


L1:


L2:


L3:



L4:



L5:





Pupa:




Adult male at location:

[Chuck]

Bravo! Spectacular work, impeccable photography! Thanks for taking the time to share this.