ATLAS AND THE MAGIC HATCHING BOX

Attacus species are not especially difficult to rear if certain conditions are met; in particular warmth and humidity. The cocoons are, of course, pretty large and so is the adult wingspan, so more space is required than is normal for most other species. For cocoon emergence a suitable cage is needed. Although I now use a much more sophisticated ‘ hatching-box’, the old ‘tea chest and light bulb’ served me very well for many years, and indeed, if there is any pressure of space, or a conflict of required environments, it still gets put to good use on the odd occasion. Simple and very cheap to construct, I suppose it could be used for many species in different stages, but it has always been my ‘Atlas-only-pupae-emerging- incubator’. It began life as a simple tea chest turned on it’s side and a door, formed from the lid, held tightly in place with pegs and strong rubber bands cut from an old car inner-tube. I cut a hole about 4 ins. square in the door and covered it with a bit of clear acrylic sheet, so that I could see what was happening inside without having to dismantle it. The whole lot [except for the acrylic bit of course] was then covered in 2 inch thick polystyrene. P.V.A. glue sticks the polystyrene very well if string is tied around to hold it in place until it sets. I papered the inside with kitchen foil with the idea of reflecting the heat and light to give a more even distribution. Probably wishful thinking, but it looks nice. The heat source is an ordinary 60watt light bulb in a fitting attached to the back wall about 4 ins. above the floor. This is wired through an adjustable thermostat [removed from an old electric convector heater] mounted in a sealed plastic box with lots of holes drilled in it and fastened in one of the top rear corners. On the floor is a large tray about 1 inch deep, fitted with 1 inch thick foam rubber which is easy to keep continually damp without having standing water, and finally, a lattice work of string is stretched across about an inch from the top. I suspend the cocoons at varying heights from the strings using paperclips as hooks, so that when the moths emerge, they will cling to the bottoms of the cocoons and have plenty of room in which to expand their wings. With the thermostat set at around 28C., the reservoir filled and the door secured, there is no need to go inside for 10 days or so. Progress can be checked through the transparent panel, and although Murphy’s law ensures that the light is always off at this time, a kick usually does the trick. When a moth emerges I transfer it to a cage [which I prepared earlier] situated in a cool position. It’s easy to unhook the paperclip and re-hang it in the cage without touching the moth. I was told by an ‘Atlas expert’ many years ago that a female, once it has been handled, is of the opinion that it has paired, and subsequently begins laying. In fact a female will happily sit on it’s cocoon in the incubator for up to a week before moving, but it will call during the light-off periods and rapidly use up it’s pheromones. Keeping it in the cold slows down this process. A male should be moved immediately as it will fly within a few hours. I’ve no idea how to consistently get Atlas to pair naturally. I’ve had them pair in the greenhouse almost a couple of weeks after emerging and also in a tiny ‘transporting ‘ cage which I put down while I went to get a coffee. Frankly, I can’t be bothered to wait because they are usually so easy to hand – pair. I prepare another small cage by suspending an empty cocoon with string from the roof netting, and placing it in a warm place. For those with 3 hands, it isn’t a problem, but for the rest of us, not leaving the cage door open would be catastrophic. Someone once said that hand – pairing Atlas is like holding a newspaper in each hand and trying to stick two of the corners together. I know what he means but with a bit of practice it’s quite easy. Many have tried to describe the process and failed – so I wont! It’s just a matter of "If at first you don’t succeed…….." A little tip, though, is to try and use a male about 4 days old. The abdomen is stiffer then, so it doesn’t flop about so much. Once you have the connection , place the moths, one on each side of the cocoon, with the female higher, so that the male’s abdomen bends underneath the cocoon. Some of the females are huge and heavy and the sheer weight of the abdomen can pull it away from the male if it is not in a vertical position. If they don’t separate within the next hour , they should remain coupled until dusk the following day. I usually hand – pair around 4p.m. Keeping a gravid female in warmth and humidity will ensure lots of fertile ova, but cold and dry, she will only lay a few, possibly infertile, eggs. A shoebox, back in the ‘emerging box', is an ideal environment. I usually leave the eggs in the ‘hatching box’ because again, they need the warmth and humidity or they will surely desiccate.The young larvae readily take to many foodplants and present no problems provided they are given – guess what ? – warm and fairly humid conditions. They do quite well in sealed plastic boxes and are relatively slow growing.

Automeris hamata is one of the larger ' Bulls-eye' moths, reaching about 90 to 100 cm. wingspan. Like the majority of this genus, the larva is perhaps the most interesting stage, with the usual stinging spines but with the most unusual habit of spinning itself a little platform from whence it wanders to feed and to which it returns to rest. Rearing is straightforward in cages or even in plastic boxes provided the larvae are not too crowded. Although they would probably eat many different foodplants, the larvae took to Privet [ligustrum] with relish, and I was not about to argue with that. Fully grown, the larvae are surprisingly large, reaching a generous 'thumb' thickness. The adults emerge after about 4 weeks and pairing is easy, although to observe it, you have to be patient, diligent, lucky or an insomniac [maybe all four], because barely 20 minutes at around 3a.m. seems to be the standard procedure. The ovum is white with a green micropile, soon changing to black if it is fertile, and it hatches in about 3 weeks. As with all Automeris species, it desiccates easily, so humidity is important. The young larvae are seriously gregarious, gradually becoming solitary as they grow. Although the adult is attractive, it's the larvae which makes the species so different from it's friends and relations: a species well worth rearing.

One of the earliest species to show is Aglia tau TAU EMPEROR which, although not found in Britain, is fairly widespread in mainland Europe. The female is straw coloured and the male quite a bright orange. Although they fly and pair by day, the female, often having paired with several males, lays around the clock. [she also lays well in a shoebox or plastic box !!]. The ova are normally dark brown 'lozenges' and have the worrying habit of collapsing quite visibly just prior to hatching. The larvae are spectacular, having a tremendous set of 'horns' but, early on, they must not be crowded because they have the 'tying each other up fetish'. Later, they are easy to rear. The species is obligatorily univoltine but I always keep them in the 'fridge as they tend to pop out at odd times during the Winter at the slightest temperature rise. Amazingly, when brought into the warmth, they emerge within just a few days. The larvae will eat the leaves of most deciduous trees, and mine will be going on to Weeping Willow initially, and probably switching to Quercus [Oak] as that becomes available.

Opodipthera eucalypti [sometimes included in Antheraea] is not a spectacularly beautiful insect but is nevertheless an attractive species for the rearer. The male adult resembles Antheraea mylitta somewhat, but the larvae is definitely un-Antheraea like! The cocoon is a pretty amazing construction which appears to be made of carbon fibre. A sort of large black walnut which, if jumped up and down on , would probably damage your shoes. The moths come with their own toolkit [ Drill, Chainsaw etc. - how else could they possibly get out?] and you can hear them working a good twenty four hours before they emerge. They are a good size, usually around five and a half inches and the male has falcate, high aspect ratio wings, with circular eyespots which seem to stare at you rather disconcertingly. Pairing isn't usually a problem, the moths staying coupled for several hours. The unremarkable ova and young larvae lead to a very beautiful caterpillar in later instars, and the grass skirts worn on the legs indicates its origins [Australia and New Zealand]. It's not a difficult species and it's foodplant [surprise ! surprise !] is Eucalyptus, although Liquidamber is an alternative.

Daphnis nerii [Oleander Hawk] is not a difficult species, particularly when reared on Privet [ligustrum]. The problem is that newly hatched larvae from parents reared on Oleander usually refuse it. Convince them as follows : Take half a dozen leaves of Vinca [Periwinkle] or Nerium oleander and scissor them into narrow strips. Put them into half a coffee jar of water and shake. Let stand for an hour and then dip sprigs of Privet into the solution. When they have dried, feed them to the newly hatched larvae. Stand any remaining sprigs in the jar and use at the next feeding time, although the larvae will take unadulterated Privet once they have started feeding. If the parents were reared on Privet, this weaning process is usually unnecessary. The larvae can, of course, be reared on Vinca spp. and also on Lilac [Syringa] with a bit of persuasion.

Loepa katinka [GOLDEN EMPEROR] although a beautiful insect, could not be likened to the classical, sophisticated beauty of a 'Vogue' model. More a 'page 3' type! The flashy, bright yellow ground colour with precise and contrasty markings is reminiscent of heavily applied makeup, and the way that it flaunts itself when resting ensures it's photogenic qualities. This is an insect that needs humidity. The ova desiccate fairly easily and I learned to my cost the necessity for moisture at the pupation stage. A few year's ago I had a large number of larvae about to spin and I thought I would try the methods I use for most Sphingids [Each larva enclosed with a tissue in it's own, sealed, 'margerine tub' and a few days in an incubator at around 28C.] Within a couple of days they had spun the normal dark brown, pointed at each end, cocoon, but there was a vast quantity of liquid slopping around in the tub. I poured this out, left off the tops, and returned them to the incubator for a couple more days. Every one failed to pupate properly. Subsequently, I have left the liquid in and the tops on, with no problems. Apart from taking care with humidity, 'kats' are easy to rear. They normally pair fairly easily in a reasonably sized flightcage, and make life easy by remaining coupled for 24 hours. The moths will lay their eggs in a plastic or shoe box and hatch [only if you keep 'em moist!] in a couple of weeks or so. The larvae take Parthenocissus spp. [Virginia Creeper] {preferable} or Vitis [Grape Vine] with relish. The later instar caterpillars are unlike any other Saturniid larvae and have a minute head [small brain - told you it was a Bimbo].

My story starts in early April 1992. Due to a forthcoming move of house in midsummer, I had made a decision to synchronise the hatching of my stock of Saturnia pavonia and Saturnia pyri to avoid the problem of looking after the larvae during my move. After securing adequate pairings of the two, I had some surplus male pavonia and two unpaired female pyri.At this point in time I decided to see if I could secure some hybrids, and I obtained some interesting results. Firstly, l set up my breeding cage which I use for pavonia. This cage is no more than a shortened fisherman’s keepnet. Into this I placed the two virgin female pyri plus four male pavonia. On the outside of the cage I placed two female pavonia (to excite the males) and then hung the cage in the sunshine and kept a close watch.The pavonia mals soon became active aand began flying around inside the cage with the calling female pavonias on the outside of the cage. The males were attempting to pair with the female pyri almost immediately. Unfortunately, the female pyri did not have the same idea. They constantly dropped to the cage floor to avoid the males, but by the end of the afternoon, both had paired, one twice. That night they began laying. The moths produced about the same amount of ova as with normal pairings, but the female which had paired twice, produced a batch of pure white ova, fifty one in all, amongst her normal ova.These subsequently turned out to be the only ova to hatch from the entire two batches. Upon hatching, the young larvae were black, looking exactly like pavonia, but as they grew they began to look more like pyri larvae. However, when compared with true pyri larvae, they looked distinctly odd. By the time the hybrids were half grown, and thereafter, they looked more like pavonia larvae but with colours not as you would have expected. Held against pavonia larvae, they looked a dirty green with a black underside. The larvae stayed together, even when fully grown, often with several feeding together on the same branch and showing no sign of stress through crowding. In fact they were quite placid, more like gentle giants, for by now they had grown to a very large size, much larger than normal pavonia larvae. The entire batch were raised on a mixture of Hawthorn, Apple, Damson and Cotoneaster. Now Cotoneaster may seem a strange choice of food plant, but there is a thriving population of pavonia in my home town of Milton Keynes, which are doing very well on those planted along the road and in parks and estates. I was very interested to see whether or not my hybrids would eat it, which they did. The larvae were kept at a constant 75 – 80F, the same temperature at which I kept my pure – bred pavonia and pyri larvae. They reached full size before the pyri larvae, and once again, appeared to be more in tune with their pavonia parentage. I suffered the loss of only five larvae in their first instar. They just seemed to walk around until they dried up. The cocoons were made on the foodplants among the twigs, similar to pavonia cocoons but larger, darker and harder and bore no resemblance to pyri cocoons whatsoever. By the time Spring arrived, I found I had kept only twelve cocoons, having disposed of many others to fellow members (A.E.S). The males emerged first in mid April, and even the smallest was larger than a normal female pavonia. They flew at night and readily paired with the typical pavonia females which, in the absence of any hybrid females, were the only ones available.At this point things went wrong. With seven pairings, not one of the females laid more than a few ova (a bad sign) and only a fraction of these actually hatched, all but one of the larvae died and I ended up with just a single daubi x pavonia cocoon. The female hybrids have decided to lie over for another year. I have not heard from those to whom I distributed cocoons as to whether or not their males, but not the females, emerged.

*This is the correct name. I previously incorrectly referred to it as (= MEDIA) which is the hybrid of S.pyri (m) x S. Pavonia (f), which is a bit like calling your Mum Dum and your Dad Mad

• Michael sent cocoons to me and I photographed the first male to emerge with the last exposure on a roll of film. During the next few days I took many photographs before going on holiday and having my camera stolen ( complete with half – exposed film). Hence only one photograph exists unless someone in the Wiltshire area knows better.

Acherontia atropos (DEATH'S HEAD HAWK)

Emergence and pairing
Although time-consuming, A.atropos is an easy species to rear. Temperature and humidity I believe to be important, and I rigidly stick to 26-28 degrees C and 90% respectively. Under these conditions, ova will hatch in 4 days, pupae take about 3 weeks, larvae go down after 14 days and pupate after another 4. As an incubator I use a metal cupboard, with a large hole covered with clear perspex, at one end. Fitted with a couple of thermostatically controlled soil heating cables and covered outside with 50mm thick polystyrene, it stays on all year round, set at 26 degrees C. The cupboard holds 2 cages, one 18" wide by 14" deep by 24" high (457 x 355 x 610mm) for pairing/laying and the other 12" x 14" x 24" (300 x 355 x 610mm) for emerging. About 15 adults can be accommodated comfortably. I lay the pupae on layers of tissue in a shallow tray and maintain humidity by copious spraying daily over all of the inside of the cupboard, including the pupae. A thick layer of newspaper in the large cage is soaked every 2 or 3 days. From healthy pupae, moths always emerge properly, but the slightest deformity can, but not always, result in deformed adults. Moths emerge 3 hours before dusk with amazing punctuality. Death's-head Hawks cannot wait to pair! They begin at dusk with such fervour that their squeaking can be heard many yards away. In the up and down position, or side by side on the netting, face to face, rolling about on the floor of the cage, like a great "tennis-ball" of bodies jumbled in a corner, females dragging males around. 10 minutes, 2 hours, overnight, - the combination of time and position seems infinite. Occasionally, they pair in the more usual 'hawk fashion' i.e: with the female hanging from the roof netting and the male suspended beneath her. If I spot this, I remove them [they won't separate] as any free males will cling to the pair, and as more join them, the whole assembly crashes to the floor, tearing off the female's tarsal claws. She, subsequently, will not lay.

can you work these out?

Feeding & Laying.

On the third day after emergence, I begin feeding the adults with a 50% honey/water mixture. Any time of the day will do, but not near dusk or they will fly. At the first feed, they struggle violently and rarely take any honey, but after 2 or 3 feeds they become easy to handle. By holding the moth at the wing roots with the thumb and second finger, the first finger is left free to hold down the head, which makes locating and extracting the proboscis much easier. For this I use a small, pointed plastic stick (not a pin). The tongue is then dipped in the honey solution, and held until the moth starts to feed, signified by the movement of the proboscis tip and waving of the antennae. The moth can then be slowly released, when it will continue to feed for up to 5 minutes. I've made half a dozen feeding trays by sticking shallow tops from plastic boxes (about 75mm x 50mm x 6mm) on to 150mm squares of thin plywood. This avoids them being tipped over by the moths, and by working a rota-system, quite a large number of moths can be fed in a relatively short time. I feed every two days and later, when they are laying, every three days. If moths are pairing [especially in the 'end to end' mode] at feeding time, they can still be fed without them separating, but feed the male first as the stronger female will drag he male away when she has finished. After about 10 days, I remove the males to a cage in a cool position and continue to feed them. Being less active, they will remain alive much longer in this situation. Buddleia [Buddleia daviddii or B.globosa etc.] stems in a jar of water are now introduced into the females' cage, the bottom of which is covered with a thick layer of water-saturated newspaper. Cut off any flower heads or atropos will surely hide ova therein. Within a couple of days they will begin to lay; a few at first, gradually increasing nightly, although they will lay few, if any, on feeding days. The eggs are laid on the leaves, the netting and sometimes on the cage framework (where they are difficult to remove without damage). Reintroduction of the males after about 8 days, while having doubtful benefits, causes immediate pairings, and is certainly useful in slowing down ova output, if and when required.

Larvae and Pupation.

Ova are collected daily, put into small boxes, without tissue, and dated. As the adult lays ova singly, I never have more than 30 in one box [although recently, 90 ova packed tightly into a small container and lost in the post, all hatched]. This is probably the least problematic stage, and although by habit I breathe on the lids whenever I remove them from the ova boxes, this is not necessary. As the eggs hatch, I transfer them to small, tissue-lined containers [coleslaw or yoghurt type] with a couple of sprigs of Privet [Ligustrum vulgare]. These I take from the top of a stem, but cut off the bud and the first couple of leaves. The young larvae seem to prefer young, but not too young, leaves. After the first moult they go into 2-litre 'ice-cream' boxes [24] and thereafter are halved with each subsequent moult, finishing with 3 to a box for the final instar. For larvae, I use another incubator, a 4' x 3' x 3' box (1.2 x 0.9 x 0.9m), heated by a thermostatically controlled 60Watt 'loft-heater'. There is no provision for humidity, as the boxes create their own, and although there is a timer-controlled 15W light source, I rear atropos in darkness. Other than the odd occasion, when a young larvae fails to begin feeding, I seldom have any losses using this method. When the fully grown larvae change colour and begin to charge around the box, I put each one, with a tissue, into a margarine tub [500g]. Rubber bands are needed, as the very strong larvae will push the lids off with ease. The larvae roll the tissue into a sodden ball in the corner, but I do not change it, and have never had larvae fail to pupate properly under these conditions. Ova and larvae travel well in the post, but not so non- diapaused pupae . I've bounced them around all over the country in the boot of the car, with no ill effects, but put them in the post and about 50% are lost. I've packed them in all different ways and sent them to myself at all times of the year, but always with similar results. So if anyone knows the secret……….?

Prices and Payment.
All prices are in Sterling (GBP) and Euros. I can give equivalent current prices in any currency but this is only when the amount is paid in GBP. I cannot give prices in other currencies because there are too many variables. If I were to quote fixed prices in other currencies, it would have to be at the highest rate method level. This would be unfair to those using the cheaper transfer methods. The following factors affect pricing in other currencies.
1.Basic variable exchange rate (I apply this at the time of issuing the invoice)
2.Method of payment ( A wide variation here - Sometimes involving a flat rate, sometimes a % rate and sometimes an exchange rate peculiar to that system) Methods listed below
3. Quantities. When linked with Methods of payment.

Methods and their Pros and Cons.
1 Cheque drawn on British Bank. Free and safe Best for Britain
2. British Postal Order. Safe but relatively expensive
3. Cheque drawn on European Bank in Euros.(or FF until Jan.1st). Free and safe. Best for European countries other than Britain
4. Cheques drawn on Foreign Banks. Safe but incur flat rate charges of £4 up to £50 and £6 thereafter. Also subject to variable 'buying' exchange rate which is usually moderate. ( some currencies not acceptable)
5. Cash in GBP. Free but risky unless registered (when it's no longer free!} Cannot be registered from some countries)
6. Cash in other currencies. As above but subject to a high variable exchange rate.
7. Electronic transfer. Secure but very high flat rate charge
8. Bank Draft . Expensive and definitely NOT secure.
9. Paypal. Safe and now FREE.
10. Commercial money transfer Cos. Quick and easy with extortionate charges and horrendous exchange rates. Avoid!
Sending livestock and money by post.

From Britain. A personal cheque in Sterling is by far the best way to send money out of the Country. Many Banks abroad do not charge to exchange to local currency, but even if they do, it's probably the cheapest and safest option. Direct transfer (i.e. from one bank account to another) is safe but expensive at around £16.00 a time and a Bank draft is neither safe nor cheap. Sending banknotes by registered post looks attractive but it's probably more likely to reach it's destination (and usually quicker) if sent by normal mail. If you do use 'registered', ring Royal Mail Customer Services and ask what are the 'restrictions' to the Country in question, as some Countries ban banknotes. Do not, however, take their word for it over the'phone. Ask them to send a photocopy (dated) of the relevent page so that you have proof of advice if and when you have to claim. In general, although a very few species need permits, entomological livestock in any stage, provided it is properly packed, can be posted for delivery both within the United Kingdom or for export to any country in the world. (which is not to say that any country has to accept it). If the value is under £27.00 use ordinary first class post and complete a 'certificate of posting'. You will be able to claim up to this amount if it gets lost or damaged. This applies to both Inland and Overseas mail although Royal Mail says 'whilst in the care of the Post Office and due to our fault' for international mail (but how, if it gets lost, do they know where it gets lost?). If it's going abroad and weighs more than 40g, send it as 'small packet' - it's much cheaper. If the value is greater than £27.00, then it might be worthwhile using 'registered' or 'international registered' but remember to check on restrictions to specific countries. Within Europe a customs declaration is no longer required, but elswhere it is. I have found no advantage in 'swiftair', and in fact it has taken longer than normal on a couple of occasions. It may give you priority to the 'plane, but nothing after that.

Into Britain. Obviously, Direct transfer is the best way to receive money from anywhere, but it can cost the sender an arm and a leg. Personal cheques in local currency are fine but there are a couple of things to watch out for. British banks generally do charge to change other currencies into Sterling, and the rates seem to vary by an alarming amount. The rates though, are usually 'negotiable', and it's worthwhile going in to chat (argue) about it. The other thing is the 'buying exchange rate' which I'll come to in a minute. Receiving banknotes by normal or registered post is another option which seems to work very well. I receive very many and I can't recall any ever having gone astray .( why do I lose so many when I send them). Exchanging them though, does cause problems because of the varying rates. For example, on Sat. Dec. 30th. the published exchange rate was 1.45 U.S.A. dollars to the G.B. pound. The U.S.A. cheques which I deposited cost me 1.53 dollars per pound and the selling price of dollar banknotes was 1.61 dollars (Thomas Cook). I reduced this to 1.58 dollars by shopping around (Post Office), but the difference is still considerable. There was still commission to pay on top of this of course, so it is very important when applying exchange rates to other currencies to realise just what the costs of buying back are likely to be. Apart from one or two exceptions, there are no problems with importing livestock into the U.K. A customs declaration (completed accurately) should be attached and if the contents have a commercial value (invoice enclosed), be prepared to pay V.A.T. If the contents are a gift with a value of more than that currently allowed(I think £35) be prepared to pay import duty. If delivery is by a carrier, refuse to pay any other charges( airport tolls etc) not previously agreed by you. The sender should have paid these.

Points to remember. You cannot send items to U.S.A. by International registered post. Send items to Netherlands in the strongest possible containers. They don't lose them but thy try hard to break them. Always check the restrictions when sending to another Country. From England it's a local number (08457 740740). Make a note of the time, date and the name of the person who gave you the information or ask for the aforementioned photocopy

It is now possible to send and receive money in several currencies.(Euros,Yen, CAN$) But as far as I am concerned, it means I can send invoices in GBP without worrying about the current exchange rate, because Paypal make the conversion at source. It isn't totally free, but it is by far the cheapest, quickest and safest method of transferring money across borders. It even compares well with domestic U.K.cheques.(you don't need an envelope and stamp!). Go back and click on the Paypal logo for details