Looking After Emperor Moths

[MaddingtonBear]

Hi everyone!

My birthday was on the 5th and my boyfriend, mum and brother all banded together and bought me two small moth cages and ten emperor moth cocoons! I used to have a butterfly cage when I was really small so it was a lovely gift. I wasn't expecting them to pupate for ages so what a surprise I got when I noticed two in one of the cages today!



I know they eat bramble, hawthorn or heather but which is best, what do I need to do to get them to mate and lay, how do I look after the eggs, how long will the eggs take to hatch... What.. How.. When... ?!!

I have loads of questions but for now I want to look after my beautiful moths. Is there anything I need to provide immediately? They have heat and light and a stick to sit on, the cages are pj cages so they're soft netting. I did have a book on raising catterpillars and moths etc when I was younger but can't find it... Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Dogghound]

The adults don't feed.

I've never looked after them though so can't say what to do in this respect. However can you try not to release them into the wild, as the genetic make up of these moths is not always as it seems.

[naturegirl]

I would suggest that you 'Google' this and go with what it shows you.

Naturegirl