Breeding: Thecla betulae
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:40 am
New project from this year. Eggs collected from a female last year. This species is localized and scarce along the coast in the southeastern part of Norway. The larva usually feed on Prunus spinosa but also Prunus domestica. I used the latter as my hostplant.
Lifecycle information: The eggs hibernate. I tried to move some eggs inside in the beginning of April, but they did not hatch, regardless of the high indoor temperature. The first eggs hatched 1st of May in synchronization with the first leaf buds on the hostplant sprouting. As a note i ended up with 60 eggs total, but only 25 eggs hatched this year. The unhatched eggs still look ok, so im keeping them until next year to see if they hatch after hibernating twice.
Larval stages lasted 28-30 days
Pupal stages lasted 20-21 days
Difficulty rating based on % of individuals gotten through to imago(1=hard, 5=easy): 4,5/5
Egg
L1
L2
L3
L4
Pupa
Imago
A few more high res pictures over HERE
Lifecycle information: The eggs hibernate. I tried to move some eggs inside in the beginning of April, but they did not hatch, regardless of the high indoor temperature. The first eggs hatched 1st of May in synchronization with the first leaf buds on the hostplant sprouting. As a note i ended up with 60 eggs total, but only 25 eggs hatched this year. The unhatched eggs still look ok, so im keeping them until next year to see if they hatch after hibernating twice.
Larval stages lasted 28-30 days
Pupal stages lasted 20-21 days
Difficulty rating based on % of individuals gotten through to imago(1=hard, 5=easy): 4,5/5
Egg
L1
L2
L3
L4
Pupa
Imago
A few more high res pictures over HERE