Unfertilized eggs
Unfertilized eggs
Among those who raise silkmoths, it seems to be generally known that if a female does not mate, she will lay sterile eggs after a few days. My question is, do female butterflies do the same? Or do they just hold on to their eggs until they die if they are unable to find a mate?
- kevinkk
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 328
- Joined: Mon May 23, 2022 5:06 pm
- Location: Oregon
Re: Unfertilized eggs
I don't think they do. It's an interesting question, I don't raise butterflies often, but I do not recall ever a virgin female laying ova. I was thinking
about this, and I just had some sphinx moths hatch, Manduca rustica, I couldn't get them to feed, and never saw a pairing either, no females
laid any ova, as a virgin Saturniidae female does. Butterflies don't lay indiscriminately as moths do either, which is something I have
wondered about- if a moth will lay in a paper sack, how do they ever find the correct foodplant in the wild?
Maybe it's something to do with leps that feed as adults? It's a peculiar thing to begin with, laying sterile ova just before expiring.
Right- I just remembered the female Papilio eurymedon I have in a flight cage...I'll keep an eye on her, a wild capture yesterday.
about this, and I just had some sphinx moths hatch, Manduca rustica, I couldn't get them to feed, and never saw a pairing either, no females
laid any ova, as a virgin Saturniidae female does. Butterflies don't lay indiscriminately as moths do either, which is something I have
wondered about- if a moth will lay in a paper sack, how do they ever find the correct foodplant in the wild?
Maybe it's something to do with leps that feed as adults? It's a peculiar thing to begin with, laying sterile ova just before expiring.
Right- I just remembered the female Papilio eurymedon I have in a flight cage...I'll keep an eye on her, a wild capture yesterday.
Re: Unfertilized eggs
Since butterflies evolved from moths, maybe they have moved on from indiscriminate egg-laying.
- adamcotton
- Global Moderators
- Reactions:
- Posts: 765
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2022 12:24 pm
- Location: Thailand
- kevinkk
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 328
- Joined: Mon May 23, 2022 5:06 pm
- Location: Oregon
Re: Unfertilized eggs
We brought back a male as well, but last night, I noticed small green ova on the sides of the flight cage, I know they weren't there before I putadamcotton wrote: ↑Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:50 pmIf it's a wild capture it has almost certainly already mated.
Adam.
the butterflies in. What did surprise me, is that I thought butterflies only deposited ova on larval food plant.
Create an account or sign in to join the discussion
You need to be a member in order to post a reply
Create an account
Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute