help - I need leaves!!!

[Neil Jones]

On Tuesday 09 April 2002 07:49 pm, Sunsol wrote:
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> What else do they eat? Persimmons? Birch? Walnut? Has anything else =
> leafed out? Sally
>
The book for silkmoths is "A Silkmoth Rearer's Handbook".
It has more than 250 pages of detailed species account ,genus by genus.
If someone has bred it you get the feeling it is in the book.
It is published by the Amateur Entomologists' Society in the UK.  
http://www.theaes.org/ It is written from a British perspective of course and 
what we mean by Walnut is Juglans regia not nigra and our Birches are 
Betula pendula and B. pubescens.

It says for Actias l "Foodplants. In Canada Whiite birch (Betula payrifera) 
is prefered . In USA various Juglandaceae preferred especially pecan, also 
Sweet Gum and persiommon, also has been found on, and bred on ironwood, oaks, 
elms, willow, trembling aspen, maples, hickory, butternut, walnut, hazel 
,alder, basswood, cherry and beech. In capitivity appears to thrive best on 
walnut or birch."

I suspect that moving the larvae onto a different hostplant may not be a good 
idea. It depends on the species but some don''t cope with a change well.

Bombyx mori the "true" silkworm for example  is reputed to be able to survive 
on wilted lettuce but once put on Mulberry it won't go back on Lettuce.
--
Neil Jones- Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.butterflyguy.com/
NOTE NEW WEB ADDRESS
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn Bog
National Nature Reserve

 
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