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Salmonsaladsandwich

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  1. Know this is old, but of those three species only Cynthia is extraordinarily picky. The only plant it thrives on is ailanthus. Cecropia and promethea have distinct favorites that they do best on (wild black cherry you can never go wrong with, but some populations of promethea prefer sassafras or ash) but they'll both theoretically eat a huge variety of plants including most fruit trees, elm, maple, lilac, buttonbush and some others I'm forgetting.
  2. He mentioned that it was still hanging from a branch, so it's almost certainly a Polyphemus. Lunas crawl to the ground before spinning a cocoon. The color and texture of the silk and the fact that it's difficult to get open also suggest polyphemus. I would not recommend trying to cut the cocoon open if it still has to overwinter. Just be patient.
  3. Ooh! Great find! Pretty sure it's actually a polyphemus moth. (My personal favorite species.) If it hatches next spring and turns out to be a female, you can put it outside in a screen cage and she'll attract males from miles around. The larvae eat fresh oak and birch leaves.
  4. My favorite beetles to keep are Calasoma caterpillar hunters. I've only kept 2 but they were definitely my favorite- relatively large, active, colorful and voracious eaters.
  5. Hmm, I've had that problem but only when I didn't feed them. Maybe give them some moistened cat food so they always have something to chew on?
  6. Of course, just because a habitat was created by human disturbance doesn't mean it isn't a good habitat with lots of biodiversity. A field that's kept sunny and sparse by constant removal of taller vegetation could simulate a healthy ecosystem in a more arid region. The dry, mown field where I often see C. punctulata appears to have a much greater diversity of ants, solitary wasps, and orthopterans compared to the adjacent forest.
  7. But they're clearly not a universal indication of pristine habitat, because around here many species occur mainly as a result of human disturbance.
  8. Where I live, basically the only native habitat is forest. Generally, all other habitats are the result of human activity and will eventually revert back to forest if left undisturbed.
  9. Funny, I always see tiger beetles in places that have been disturbed by humans. Dirt roads, well- worn hiking trails, artificial sand beaches (where vegetation has been removed from a lakeshore), quarries, and dry patches in sports fields where the grass is kept short by mowing. Though this is probably because I live in a climate dominated by forest, so the open habitats tiger beetles favor usually don't occur naturally.
  10. Looks more like a blinded sphinx moth or similar species.
  11. I'm pretty sure Scarites and Pasimachus are specifically adapted to eating hard shelled prey. They crunch beetles so efficiently!
  12. Yeah, I would use what you found them on. I only see C. punctulata on a very specific type of hard- packed, clay/sand soil, but wherever I see that soil there's always C. punctulata. Bear in mind that tiger beetles won't behave naturally unless you use a hot light bulb to simulate the sun, but that will make the substrate dry out quickly. A water bowl with damp sand is a good idea. If you keep them warm and well- lit, though, they're real fun to watch and feed. I've had tiger beetles mate and oviposit, but the resulting larvae only lasted a few weeks because I couldn't get them enough small live food. Perhaps you'll have better luck than me if you have a culture of flightless fruitflies, bean weevils, dwarf isopods or anything like that. Just wondering, why are tiger beetles an indicator of a pristine habitat? I see C. repanda anywhere sand meets freshwater, and C. punctulata has supposedly developed pesticide resistance from its occurrence in agricultural fields.
  13. I'd be surprised if toads, carabid beetles (such as scarites, pasimachus or cicindela), large praying mantises and true spiders, or any kind of fish that eats snails and crustaceans would turn their nose up at a dermestid beetle. I imagine frogs might accept them too however the beetle's hard shells may cause problems for them.
  14. The really interesting thing about this moth is that it's native to the American tropics, but spread up here to the northern us on its own after the introduction of ailanthus. Being a tropical species, no part of its life cycle is capable of surviving the winter here- it has to migrate north every summer in a songbird- like fashion.
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