Unfertilized eggs

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eurytides
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Unfertilized eggs

Post by eurytides »

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?
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kevinkk
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Re: Unfertilized eggs

Post by kevinkk »

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.
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58chevy
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Re: Unfertilized eggs

Post by 58chevy »

Since butterflies evolved from moths, maybe they have moved on from indiscriminate egg-laying.
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adamcotton
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Re: Unfertilized eggs

Post by adamcotton »

kevinkk wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:24 am 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.
If it's a wild capture it has almost certainly already mated.

Adam.
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kevinkk
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Re: Unfertilized eggs

Post by kevinkk »

adamcotton wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:50 pm
kevinkk wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:24 am 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.
If it's a wild capture it has almost certainly already mated.

Adam.
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 put
the butterflies in. What did surprise me, is that I thought butterflies only deposited ova on larval food plant.
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