Buterfly larval food recipe

[James Allen]

Hi everyone!
 
This summer researchers are raising an extended family of "Painted Lady"
 
(Vanessa carduii) butterflies in one of our greenhouses. In a small
netted
cage enclosure the butterflies lay there eggs all over hollyhock plants.
If they are not
picked off in time, they hatch and start munching away. Needless to say,
 
thay have gone through quite a few hollyhock plants.
 
I have also tried putting some other plants in the cage: Helichrysum,
Centauria, and Burdock
which they seem to like too. As I mentioned the eggs are picked off and
reared on
an artificial diet which is purchased form a lab supply company, and is
somewhat
costly. - this leads to my query. Since they like burdock plants, and
there are a lot
of them around, is there a recipe that anyone knows of to make that
artificial diet?
 I was thinking of putting leaves in a blender - but I imagine that the
result would be
quite full of liquid.
 
Any help would be appreciated.
 
BTW. we also raise Manduca or tobacco horn worm on a similar diet that
must
contain Nicotiana.
 
 
 
--
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James R. Allen (everybody calls me "Jim")
Horticulturist
Biology Department
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393
 
Tel: (617) 287-6580
Fax: (617) 287-6650
Web Page: http://Greenhouse.bio.umb.edu
 
James.Allen at umb.edu
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