ova viability and animal age

Discussion on butterflies, moths and skippers
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kevinkk
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ova viability and animal age

Post by kevinkk »

Has anyone ever noticed if ova laid at the end of a female moth or butterfly's life have a lesser chance of being fertile than ova laid
just after pairing, or simply a day or two before the animal expires? I'm not sure if I worded that correctly, but you get the idea- are
eggs laid just before death less likely to be fertile than eggs on honeymoon ?
eurytides
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Re: ova viability and animal age

Post by eurytides »

Yes, definitely.
jwa121
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Re: ova viability and animal age

Post by jwa121 »

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about the same or very similar question.

I rear Saturniid moths and for some time now I have suspected that a female Saturniid's first-laid eggs tend to produce caterpillars that grow better or that are perhaps bigger or more robust than the caterpillars that come from the moth's last-laid eggs. I don't know if this is actually true or not. The question would make an interesting topic for a study.
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kevinkk
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Re: ova viability and animal age

Post by kevinkk »

jwa121 wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 3:24 am Coincidentally, I have been thinking about the same or very similar question.

I rear Saturniid moths and for some time now I have suspected that a female Saturniid's first-laid eggs tend to produce caterpillars that grow better or that are perhaps bigger or more robust than the caterpillars that come from the moth's last-laid eggs. I don't know if this is actually true or not. The question would make an interesting topic for a study.
Well, it would be an interesting and time consuming study. I've suspected that fertility drops with age, and that there is also a difference between wild
and captive breeding, I've never experienced any issues that I am aware of with wild females, but I have had issues with captive animals, what causes
those issues, I have no idea, I dismiss inbreeding theories and assume the faults lie elsewhere. Infertile pairings for one example.
Perhaps I will pay more attention to my females, wild and otherwise, that notebook isn't full yet. For me, the crux of the issue is at what point
a person might stop selling ova from an aging female, probably more of an intuition than hard facts, given all the variables. But, I tossed the subject
out there to get other people's opinions and experiences, it's the best way to find out what I don't know.
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