vapourer moth info please

[karen & the mob]

Hi all,

my kids found 4 caterpillars in the garden which we kept in a friend's fish tank. They all pupated & when the first emerged we realised it was a male vapourer moth & released it.

The 2nd has now emerged & is a female. Problem - female vapourer moths are wingless & spend their entire life on the cocoon!

We need to know:

1. What, if anything, does the female need to eat?

2. If another emerges & it's a male, should we release it or keep it in the tank with her?

3. How long is she likely to live? Unfortunately the cocoon is not on a leaf or branch but on the lid of my friend's tank!

Any answers to any of these questions, or any other helpful info or suggestions gratefully received!

[Jonners]

If you find a suitable food source for vapourer caterpillars, you could put the female on that plant. Within a couple of hours a male will have been attracted to her and she can lay her eggs.

[charlieb]

The females will not usually move from the cocoon, even laying their eggs on it (They don't live long, a week or two at most I think). She should however be willing to move if your gentle with her - I would put her in a hedge or tree if you have any near you - keep an eye on her and if she mates and lays eggs then you will have another generation to look at (next year - the eggs overwinter!) and you'll see the whole cycle.

[karen & the mob]

We found the caterpillars on am ornamental acer tree in our garden but they liked hawthorn too which we collected on the green up the road.

If we were to move her, would we need to also try to detatch the cocoon from the tank and attatch it to the tree for her somehow?

[charlieb]

No, females will lay eggs on the whatever they are standing on - it just so happens that the cocoon is normally the thing they are standing on. She should be quite happy without it.

[karen & the mob]

Great, thanks Charlieb.

I presume I should wait till it stops chucking down with rain before I put her outside? On the other hand this is an English summer & if she only lives a week or two.......

[charlieb]

Yeah

Beautiful sunshine here now... after 3 hours of rain!

[karen & the mob]

Jonners & Charlieb, you are geniuses!

I took the lady moth into the garden on the lid of the tank, and while I was persuading her onto a leaf, a male vapourer moth landed on my son's t-shirt. As soon as she got onto the leaf he mated with her & there are now at least 100 eggs on the leaf!

Another female has emerged from her cocoon on a leaf in the tank so we fastened that leaf to the tree outside & now she has laid loads of eggs too.

There's only 1 thing bothering us now - if the eggs don't hatch till spring, what happens when the leaves - with all the eggs on - drop off in autumn?

[charlieb]

Excellent!

As long as you don't sweep up the leaves and put them in the compost they should be OK. The larvae will hatch (albeit on the floor!) and it won't take them long to find something to eat. The eggs are pretty tough and shouldn't come to any harm.

If you are worried that the leaves may blow away or get raked up you could try finding them somewhere sheltered (inside a thick hedge maybe?).

[karen & the mob]

Hi charlieb,

I can't say we're madly keen gardeners, so they should be ok!