Question about Zebra Swallowtails
caterwallin
4 years ago
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caterwallin
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Sherry...question about Zebras
Comments (7)Angie, zebra hatchlings are so tiny they look more like bits of dust than caterpillars. I (unsuccessfully except for two) raised my cats myself. As I recall, when the cats started dying outside was when I brought them in to raise myself. They ate mostly at night, and stayed on the undersides of the leaves, but, as I recall, the tiny cats moved off the leaves a LOT. I was never sure where they went when they were outside, but I do recall finding a few on the trunk of the tree. If any had lived long enough outside to get big, it would have been easier to find them. Before I post pictures of zebra swallowtail cats, let me tell you that my pawpaws get inchworms on them that have big wide heads and narrower bodies. These are the same cats that use sassafras, and I think they're tulip tree beauty moths, but I've never ID'd them for sure. Now that I've got three tulip trees in pots, I'll have to check them to see if I find any of these strange looking cats - that would indicate that they are indeed TTB cats. My Wagner book shows a picture of a TTB cat that has the same body shape as mine, but his is mottled tan. When mine are small, they're real dark, nearly solid black, but as they grow, they change drastically. David Wagner says of TTB cats, "Ground color highly variable, ranging from nearly yellow to mauve, orange, tan, gray, chocolate brown, and black, frequently with vague pinstripes." Here's a late instar cat with what could be described as pinstripes - If you find these, please let me know, and we'll try to make a positive ID on them. And if anybody else knows what these cats are please let me know! Here's a ZST hatchling - I cropped the picture a lot - Early instar - Middle Instar - Pale late instar - Dark late instar - Just keep looking, and if you find a caterpillar that looks like any of the above ZSTs, congrats, I think. Raising them was my biggest caterpillar disaster ever. If I had it to do over, I'd leave them outside, and if they die, they die. It was heart breaking for me to see them dying under my care! :( If you find the wide heads, congrats on them too, since I think they're tulip tree beauties, which make a beautiful, fairly large moth. Sherry...See MorePipevine Swallowtail Eggs and Emerging Zebra Swallowtail!
Comments (26)"Funny Sherry I was wondering the same thing about inbreeding, never have seen any mention of it when reading about captive breeding." When I showed up here almost 7 years ago, I took some people to task about the way they were releasing large numbers of inbred giant silk moths. That went over like a lead weight so I have pretty much kept my mouth shut since then. Ladobe criticized one of our members about it last year but no one followed up on it. The quote was "Besides weakening the gene pool, forced inbreeding produces low egg viability, high malformation risk and so therefore high mortality. Not a good practice." One consequence of moth inbreeding helped cause a shift in USDA policy last month. The USDA no longer regulates interstate shipments of Bombyx mori. Those moths are so inbred they can no longer survive in the wild. I raise relatively large numbers (up to 400 of one type) of Saturniidae every year. I go to great lengths to try to make sure the wild males that my girls mate with are not the brothers or the male first cousins that I released. I also try to make sure my released males and females do not mate with each other. I do this by doing releases at least 10 miles (usually more) from my house and releasing the females and males at least 10 miles (usually more) away from each other. I used to mark my males to make sure they were not finding their way home but quit being that paranoid after years of never getting one back. I release at least 10 miles away because 7 miles seems to be the generally accepted maximum distance that a male Saturniidae can follow a female's pheromones. That said, I have seen a claim that male giant silk moths can follow female pheromones for "nearly 30" miles. YMMV I preface my next statement by saying I have no clue how this guy operates. There is a guy in Ohio that raises 3k-4k cecropias each year. I read that he has been raising them since '86. Something wiped out his cats in 2008 and he had to start over in 2009. I'm real curious if inbreeding affected his setup and I'd like to know what happens to all the moths he doesn't sell (IOW, do they get let go). As for inbreeding butterflies and affecting the gene pool, there is a lot of info/controversy on the net about it because of people raising butterflies for mass release at weddings. One related article I have posted before is linked at the end of this post. Last thought: I know of one inbred butterfly that has been studied a lot: monarchs on Hawaii. I believe around 20% of them are white now. My guess is they do alright because the favorable weather conditions don't put a lot of stress on them. They would probably have trouble with migrating to Mexico and surviving the winters there. Anyway, there is a lot of research out there about them. KC Here is a link that might be useful: All Aflutter...See MoreZebra Swallowtails
Comments (3)I ended up buying some native Pawpaw, but I think your native Pawpaw is different than mine. I have found that Zebra STs love those small Pawpaw trees. Mine also grow very slowly. What type of nectar plants do you have? They have short proboscis so they need flowers that don't have long tubes. I've seen them nectaring butterfly bushes and Vitex. Here is a link that might be useful: Zebra Swallowtail Eurytides marcellus...See MoreZebra Swallowtail questions
Comments (2)I think there's a bit of overlap here, fagopher. I would LOVE to learn any tips for attracting zebra swallowtails, so if you find out anything good on the Butterfly Forum, I hope you'll share it with us. Having said that, from what I've heard here and there, it all depends on the population of pawpaws, and I don't know how we can increase that. Sure would love to find a source for them, thought I'm not sure having them in my garden would do the trick. I almost think the swallowtails are going to be found in the scrub areas where it grows naturally. Please keep us posted on anything you learn. What a treat it would be if it WERE possible to draw these very beautiful butterflies into our home gardens. Marcia...See Morecaterwallin
4 years agoarbordave (SE MI)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agofour (9B near 9A)
4 years agoarbordave (SE MI)
4 years agocaterwallin
4 years agomblan13
4 years agoarbordave (SE MI)
4 years agoarbordave (SE MI)
4 years agoarbordave (SE MI)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoKC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
4 years agoDaisy Zone 6b
4 years agoKC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
4 years agoDaisy Zone 6b
4 years agofour (9B near 9A)
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agofour (9B near 9A)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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