Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Discussion on butterflies, moths and skippers
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wolf
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Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Post by wolf »

Yet another project from this year. A very common species, flying everywhere. I found eggs on the hostplant in the field, the hostplant being Frangula alnus.
Lifecycle information: Total lifecycle from egg to imago was about 5 weeks.
Eggs used 9 days to hatch
Larval stages lasted 14-18 days
Pupal stages lasted 14 days
Difficulty rating based on % of individuals gotten through to imago(1=hard, 5=easy): 5/5

Egg
Image

L1
Image

L2
Image

L3
Image

L4
Image

L5
Image
Image

Pupa
Image

Imago
Image
Image

A few more high res pictures over HERE
Last edited by wolf on Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bobw
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Re: Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Post by bobw »

I've never heard of G. rhamni having two generations, but they do spend about a year as adults. The ones that emerge in summer overwinter but don't pair and lay until the following spring.
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adamcotton
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Re: Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Post by adamcotton »

I guess it's a case of parents and offspring in the same year, but there is only one complete life cycle per year.

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wolf
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Re: Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Post by wolf »

You guys might be right. Allthough i could swear i've seen fresh females laying eggs in middle of summer, but my memory could be wrong :P
I removed the original statement just to be sure.
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nomihoudai
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Re: Breeding: Gonepteryx rhamni

Post by nomihoudai »

I don't know what the initial text was, but Gonepteryx rhamni is one of the longest living species of butterflies in Europe. The specimen that hatch in summer do not lay eggs but will go into hibernation. When the weather is cold it can happen that a specimen that hibernated survives until June and still lays eggs.
Lepidoptera distribution maps: lepimap.click
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