rearing red admiral butterflies

[Runar Krogen]

Hi

I know that Thomas E. Dimock wrote an article on culture maintenance of
Vanessa atalanta rubria sometimes in the eighties: It is published in one
the American journals, but do not at the moment know which.
Dimock used a flight cage which measured 51 X 51 X 122 cm. In the cage
reared males displayed territorial chase behaviour, although flights were
limited. Also courting and mating took place. Cages with 15 to 20
butterflies produced good results. Temperature and light played an
important matter. Females began to lay eggs one day after mating and could
produce over 300 eggs. Wild collected males did not adjust to the
confinement of the cage, and showed no interest in unmated females and were
flying towards the netting and damaging their wings. 
>From February to July 1982 Dimock raised four continuous generations of V.
atalanta rubria.

Runar Krogen

Buvika, Norway

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> From: Barron, Mandy <BarronM at agresearch.cri.nz>
> To: 'LEPS-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU' <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
> Subject: rearing red admiral butterflies
> Date: 4. september 2000 00:38
> 
> Hello
> Does anyone here have any experience in raising red admirals (Vanessa
> atalanta) in captivity?  I am about to start a PhD project on the closely
> related New Zealand red admiral (Bassaris gonerilla) and would appreciate
> any tips you could give me.  I hope to get a continuous lab culture going
so
> I can do experiments during the winter, but I can't find anyone that has
> managed to rear a second generation in captivity.  They seem reluctant to
> mate and don't lay eggs in captivity.
> Thanks.
> 
> Mandy Barron
> Lincoln University
> New Zealand
>