InsectNet forum

Another breeding project! This time Colias tyche werdandi. I did another trip up north to northern Norway this summer and managed to grab a female. She readily laid eggs on Astragalus alpinus, which i believe is the main hostplant, atleast in Norway. A couple of online sources also mentions Vaccinium uliginosum as a possible hostplant. In my experience the female refused to lay eggs on it, and the larva did not want to eat it when given to them. The larva did however easily accept Astragalus glycyphyllos in captivity!

Some lifecycle information: Total lifecycle from egg to imago was about 5 weeks. One larva completed the whole lifecycle this summer, the rest are hibernating as full grown L5.
Eggs used 6 days to hatch
Larval stage lasted 25 days, molting 4 times.
Pupal stage lasted 8 days.

Egg



L1


L2


L3


L4



L5





Imago



More high res pictures over HERE

Nice photography.
One can never be 100% sure about food plant acceptance.

Great piece of work! I don't know what sources gave Vaccinium as a foodplant but they're very wrong. The only Eurasian Colias that feeds on Vaccinium is palaeno, there are also a few other North American species.

bobw wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:50 pm I don't know what sources gave Vaccinium as a foodplant but they're very wrong.

I should've been more specific. I've seen a couple of online webpages that mention V.uliginosum as hostplant. I've edited the original post. But yea, i suspected it was wrong aswell.

I hope to get some pictures of the pupa next year, if my larva survive the hibernation. I unfortunately didn't get the time to take pictures of the one pupa that hatched this summer.

Indeed, incredible photography and fascinating "time frames" for the different stages of life.

Would never have imagined the pupal stage only taking 8 days for the butterfly to eclose.

Keep up the good work !

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:00 pm Indeed, incredible photography and fascinating "time frames" for the different stages of life.
Would never have imagined the pupal stage only taking 8 days for the butterfly to eclose.

I do all my breedings indoors in my appartment where its usually 20-23 degrees celcius 24/7. I am pretty sure that the timespan of the lifecycle would be different if kept outside in more natural conditions.

A small update in this breeding effort. Since the south becomes warmer earlier than the north the larva started exiting hibernation around two weeks ago. I found some foodplant, but rather than starting to eat, they started to look for places to pupate right after exiting hibernation. They all hibernated as fully grown L5. All have now pupated, except one larva. The success rate was not the best, with only 12 out of around 50 larva surviving hibernation. I still have a long way to go when it comes to optimal hibernation strategies!