Breeding: Colias tyche werdandi
Breeding: Colias tyche werdandi
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
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
Last edited by wolf on Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- kevinkk
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Re: Colias tyche werdandi
Nice photography.
One can never be 100% sure about food plant acceptance.
One can never be 100% sure about food plant acceptance.
Re: Colias tyche werdandi
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.
Re: Colias tyche werdandi
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.
Re: Colias tyche werdandi
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 !
Would never have imagined the pupal stage only taking 8 days for the butterfly to eclose.
Keep up the good work !
Re: Colias tyche werdandi
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.
Re: Breeding: Colias tyche werdandi
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!
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