Beetlebee Posted June 2, 2017 Report Share Posted June 2, 2017 Hello! I bought some eggs and was told they all had multiple host plant species. Now I have someone telling me that these three species are very picky and only eat off a few certain plants. I'm very worried I am going to kill all my eggs!! Have any of you reared these before and had luck raising them well? What plants did you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Collector Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 My Cecropias eat willow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonsaladsandwich Posted July 20, 2017 Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetlebee Posted July 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2017 My Cynthia are eating lilac leaves and loving it actually! My Cecropia are on willow leaves! And I don't have the Promethea anymore:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Menagerie Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 I thought I would add this link in case anyone comes across this thread in the future looking for information. It is a link to a database of host plants for hundreds of species of Lepidoptera. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplants/search/browse.dsml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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