G.isabellae

Pierre Zagatti zagatti at versailles.inra.fr
Tue May 16 09:27:01 EDT 2000



Mikey wrote:

> I need some info on the mating behaviour of Graellsia isabellae.I would like
> to know what time of night they pair,how long they stay coupled, and any
> other
> bits of info on this moth.
> Thanks

The data I present here concern the French Isabel Moth, Actias (Graellsia)
isabelae galliaegloria (note the spelling emendation). The behaviour and feeding
habits of Spanish subspecies might be different.
It is drawn from an unpublished report we did for the french Ministry of
Environment.

Mating occurs at dusk and may last 2 hours, depending on the temperature.
It should be noted here that mating is very difficult to obtain in captivity.
Even if copulation is observed, most eggs never hatch and it's not possible to
obtain more than one generation in captivity. The only way to have a 'permanent
rearing' of this species is to pair tethered laboratory reared females with wild
males in the field, as rangers of the National Park of the Ecrins do.

We tested several Pinus species/cultivars (+++ is the best for both larval
survival and pupal weight) :

Pinus sylvestris                     +++

Pinus contorta                      +
Pinus uncinata                      +

Pinus nigra laricio                 -
Pinus banksiana                   -

Pinus nigra salzmanni             --
Pinus nigra austriaca              --

Pinus nigra jeffreyi                 ---

However a  few clones of Scots pine (P. sylvestris) were evaluated as --- for
the French Isabel Moth. There is a strong correlation between the 'feeding
value' for Graellsia and the 'feeding value' for Diprion pini (the pine sawfly).

--
Pierre ZAGATTI
INRA Unite de Phytopharmacie et Mediateurs Chimiques
78026 Versailles Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: (33) 1 30 83 31 18
e-mail zagatti at versailles.inra.fr
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/arct_guy/arct_guy.htm



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