Question about husbandry of Chilecomadia moorei

Arklier arklier at spamnot.wa.net
Sun Dec 5 06:04:14 EST 1999


On 3 Dec 1999 18:19:59 -0800, butterflies at navix.net (Ray Tripp) wrote:

>>From what I'm told, they are a stem borer in order to pupate. I was also
>told that it couldn't be done here. I don't know why it couldn't be done
>like waxworms for the pupation. I've never tried. Are you raising waxworms?
>
>I'm doing well with the silk worms on an AD. I need to find a good source to
>buy more though. Because my lizards love them too.
>
>Ray
 
I did find the following info about them. This is quoted from an
entomological report that can be found at
http://www.fcla.ufl.edu/FlaEnt/fe78p39.html

"Chilecomadia moths. ?Butterworms? are advertised by the distributor
as ?the softest worm? and are sold as reptile food in the United
States and Europe. In his permit application, the
importer spelled the scientific name incorrectly, did not know the
family, claimed the larvae were found under rocks in Chile, and that
they would immediately die if removed from
refrigeration. Eventually, butterworms turned out to be the
caterpillars of a Chilean cossid moth, Chilecomadia morrei Silva
Figueroa. Removed from refrigeration, they lived at least three
weeks and fed readily on artificial diet. Cossids are wood-borers as
larvae, and recorded hosts for this species in Chile include willows.
A related Chilean species is recorded from willow,
acacia, and apple. The permit was denied."

Now, this does have me interested. The NY Worms (www.nyworms.com) site
said they could live in chicken mash. If they can live on chicken mash
and use apple or willow wood for pupation, then they could be raised
here. I'm not sure what their life cycle length is, but it might be
worth checking out.

As for the silkworms, you can raise your own even if you don't have
access to a mullberry tree. They sell silkworm chow and eggs at
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

arklier at spamnotwa.net
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