polyphemus sibs mating!!

Martha V. Lutz & Charles T. Lutz lutzrun at avalon.net
Wed Aug 16 19:51:41 EDT 2000


Wow!  I just saw this:

"I recall that recently, on this thread, someone stated that they had never seen
Poly sib's mate....I don't recall who.  And, at the time, I had not ever seen
this either.  However, as I write, I have a pair of sibs mating in the cage.
Definite sibs as I only reared about 20 of the first brood this year.  Of the
20, the first 18 to eclose were male and all of what I call the "red form"
(which I haven't seen in a few years).  Yesterday, the first female eclosed and
was of the "normal" tan coloration and it and a red male mated last night."

That was me; I was asking if anyone had ever had A. polyphemus full sibs
mate, since they never have for me--although many other Saturniid species
will do so (some for several generations).

Do you think the different morphs had anything to do with it?  Are you
planning to rear the progeny through (assuming viable eggs)?  I would be
very interested to hear more about this!


As my uncle used to say:  "Ain't Nature Grand?"

In Stride,
Martha Rosett Lutz

P.S.  Second brood adults (polyphemus) hatched in mid July here in Iowa
this year, although usually we don't see them until early August.  Must
have been the early spring.  Mine were all full sibs, and did not mate.  I
did use them to delight a large number of small children, though.  (Not all
of them were my children, either!)



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