Ever raised Wild Indigo Duskywings?

14 years ago

I know they're a fairly plain looking butterfly (skipper), but I was wondering if anyone on here has ever tried raising them. I received some Baptisia australis seeds in the seed exchange last year, wintersowed them, and now have a bunch of plants that I still didn't get around to planting in the ground. In the process of moving various plants off the porch, on the porch, off the porch, etc. I guess I must have at least had those outside one time because I noticed last evening that one of the indigo plants looked stripped at the top. I've been so busy with plants that it's a wonder I even noticed it. The top couple sets of leaves are missing and I noticed that leaves below that looked eaten. Lo and behold, a caterpillar must have sewn two leaves together because they looked to be in a clump. I peeked inside and there it was, a cute WID cat! I don't know how long they get at their biggest but this one looks to be about an inch long.

Okay, now I'm not sure what I should do with it now that I found it. Would it be better off leaving it on the plant and planting the plant outside? Or should I keep the plant indoors even though the plant isn't very big and it soon will probably have it all eaten. I have other plants that I could feed it which aren't very big either. How long does it take these cats to pupate? I'm thinking that maybe this particular kind of a cat is especially slow to develop because I don't think I've had that plant outside for maybe a month, so either it's a month-old or more cat or else a WID butterfly sneaked in on our screened in back porch and laid an egg on that plant, which I highly doubt. If anyone has successfully raised these, I really would appreciate some advice. Even if you haven't and can tell me what to do, I'd like that too. I like to bring in butterfly cats when I can, but if this might be another tricky one like I found out on here that the AL can be, I think I'd rather put it outside and wish it well.

Cathy

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Comments (5)

MissSherry
14 years ago
I've never raised any WIDs, Cathy, but I wouldn't take it from outside on your porch to inside - the change in temperature and humidity might kill it. You might cover the plant with mesh or put it in a reptarian cage or homemade version of one or raise it with water picks/leftovers container in a rep cage.
I've been raising a little long-tailed skipper in a reptarian cage, it left the host plant the other day, folded over paper towels on the bottom of the cage, and I found a chrysalis this morning! I'm so excited! So I think it may very well be possible to raise skippers - I think you should keep raising your WID, make pictures and post them for us all to see!
Sherry
butterflymomok
14 years ago
Cathy,

I have 3 little Duskwing cats that I'm raising on Oak leaves. I think these cats take a long time to grow, so your little WID could be over a month old. Mine will grow all summer and pupate over the winter.

Sandy
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E. baptisiae is my first choice also. However, I'm open to E. persius because of the golden spots on the underside hindwing submargin. The Persius is a less common species, so I'm hesitant to mention it. I wonder whether there's a local expert who might shed some light? Whatever, it's a male. The butterfliesandmoths.org species descriptions for both species say, "Male has a costal fold containing yellow scent scales." That sounds like the yellow lines I see on your picture above. Check out the pics below just for their sheer coolness. Jeff Here is a link that might be useful: Persius Duskywing
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Hello everybody! Sorry for the delay with these pictures. But rather late than never, so here they are! I haven't *technically* raised these; they seem to do alright outside, considering I haven't lost any of them yet, so I've let them do their thing, and then when they make their chrysalis, I bring them in. Here are pictures of the little guys in their nests. http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1560.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1562.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1565.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1569.jpg Right now I have one chrysalis, and it's getting pretty close to eclosure. If I look closely, I can make out the eyes and proboscis. Sorry for the poor picture. I don't like to move around the leaf nest too much, because he/she starts wiggling like crazy. (In the last one you can see last instar's shed skin). http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1584.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1585.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1586.jpg I can't wait to get pictures when the first one emerges. And just for fun, here are some pictures of my BST cats. Enjoy! :) http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1607.jpg http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z344/jibd123/IMG_1578.jpg
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Thanks MissSherry! Thanks Larry (so nice to get a little pat on the back from you)! I didn't even think the little guy survived, so I was surprised when I came home the other day to find him (and a little hijacker moth) fluttering around. I am becoming more appreciative of these little butterflies. 6' of snow! I don't think we get that here up in New Hampshire. How do these creatures deal with the freezing temperatures? Do they have some kind of chemical compound that helps them keep from freezing? Some of the cats around here seem to hang out in hibernaculums too, so they don't have the benefit of the snow. It's something I just keyed into last year with the discovery of the admiral (Limentis) and Harris' Checkerspot (Chlosyne harrisii)cats. Maryann, I didn't do too much...I just kept giving it new aspen twigs and leaves until it seemed to have stopped feeding; I kept watching for activity, and one day I went in and checked it, and it formed a chrysalis in the leaf. Then I just left the dried up aspen twig on the bottom of the cage under a couple of paper towels. I kept the cage in the garage; there may have been a couple of nights when it got close to 0 degrees out there. I am a little confused because I thought they needed to keep feeding in the spring before pupating. I really thought it had died (for which I feel bad), and I was going (and still may) give up on these caterpillars that need to overwinter. Thanks to Sandy too who opened up my mind to rearing them! Sandy, did yours overwinter as cats or chrysalids?
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Thanks, Sherry. I was leaning towards doing that, and now since you said that, it's convinced me to put them back outside because I just don't know exactly what a person would have to do during the winter to keep them alive. I think I'll keep them in the container they're in on our back porch just a little while yet, like maybe a week, and then put them out under an indigo plant before it freezes. That way if they have to hide under some leaves they don't have to hustle at the last minute since we shouldn't get a frost for at least 2 weeks ago (hopefully even longer because I hate the thought of winter coming). I've actually been working in the indigo section of the garden lately mixing sand and peat moss into the ground (our ground has lots of clay), laying down newspapers, and then putting leaves on top. So the duskywings will already have their beds waiting on them. :) I figure that probably not too many people try to raise duskywings, going for the prettier types of butterflies instead, so I look at them as a kind of underdog and like to help them. My problem is that I like to help too many kinds of butterflies and then wonder what happened to the spring and summer. It starts out being lots of fun but towards the end, I'm there rooting them on to get on with it and pupate. lol Cathy
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lepalot
14 years ago
Cathy,
I have raised these before. They are easy, but they do like to stay in there little leaf folded nest, they even pupate in that leaf shelter. Keeping it in a jar inside with fresh leaves daily will work just fine. There are two or three generations of Wild Indigo Duskywings each year, so yours should emerge this year about two weeks after it pupates. Sandy probably has larvae of Juvenal's Duskywing which take a long time to develop and wouldn't emerge till next spring.

Curt
butterflymomok
14 years ago
Thanks for the information, Curt. I think I do have a Juvenal. But, according to Wagner, I won't know for sure until next spring.
caterwallin
Original Author
14 years ago
Sherry, I'll keep it outside on our back porch. You're so lucky to be raising a Long-tailed Skipper. I think that they are so pretty, but I don't think we get them up here if I remember right. I will keep raising the WID, but I'm not sure about pictures, even though I'd like to show it. My two-yr old Olympus broke down and when I take pics I use our daughter's camera. I'm so mad that I can't get closeup pics with it. I've tried and they all come out blurry. I don't think I'd get pics of the WID anymore anyway because I think it pupated. I'm anxious to see it eclose! I'm just not sure how long that will take.

Sandy, Oh, so you're raising a Juvenal's Duskywing on oak leaves! Neat! Wow, it sounds like they take their good old time to develop, huh. After having it with you that long, I guess you'll become attached to it. ;-)

Curt, I'm so glad to get your info about them because I like to know what I'm doing before I actually do it. I want to raise this one successfully and maybe I can raise others if I find any. Actually, now that you mentioned that they pupated in the their leaf shelter, I think that's what has happened today. I just peeked in at it and can't see the dark head; the whole thing is green and I was wondering if it was the pupa...I bet it is. It's so hard to see in there. I think it's neat how they put the leaves together and live in there, kind of like the American Ladies do. I'll be watching for it to pupate in about two weeks. Thanks for the info. That would be something to see how they eclose in that closed in space!
Cathy

Ever raised Wild Indigo Duskywings?

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MissSherry

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Ever raised Wild Indigo Duskywings?

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MissSherry

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