How to Raise Privet Hawk Moths
Source your eggs or larvae., Provide a home., Hatch your eggs., Look after your larvae., Move your larvae to a larger home., Create the ideal conditions for pupation., Emerge your moths.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Source your eggs or larvae.
You can either buy your eggs from online breeders such as 'world wide butterflies'.
Or, you can find your own caterpillars in the wild; however this takes a long time and you need to be able to identify the caterpillar in order to provide correct food plant. -
Step 2: Provide a home.
The best container to use is an old fish tank with fine mesh over the top and a lining of mud about 2 cm high.
Make sure your container is tall enough to hold tall living plants, and large enough that overcrowding of caterpillars does not occur.
Remember that larvae can grow up to 10cm! The two most dangerous things for a larvae are parasitic wasps and mold.
If the cage is not well ventilated, the caterpillar's frass (faeces) will go moldy.
If the cage is not screened with fine netting, parasitic wasps may kill your caterpillars.
If you are serious about breeding butterflies and moths, a specialist screen terrarium is a good investment. , Get a small tupperware box and line it with a sheet of toilet paper, gently lay your eggs onto this and close the lid.
To provide oxygen and moisture, you should open the lid and breathe on the eggs twice daily.
Do not put leaves in the box, as the sealed environment can cause some species of plant to produce gases that can harm the tiny eggs. , After the eggs have hatched, leave them in the box to eat their eggshells.
The eggshells contain nutrients that are essential for them to start eating.
Lay some cuttings of privet (or other food plant) in the box and transfer the caterpillars to a new box every two days.
To make sure you don't harm the caterpillars, use a fine paintbrush to gently transfer the tiny caterpillars from the box into one with fresh food. , Once the larvae have grown bigger, they will lay dormant for a few days and shed their skin; this is called ecdysis.
Do not mistake this for illness.
On the third instar (stage in between ecdysis), use your paintbrush and move the caterpillars to a live potted plant in the large container used before.
Every three days you should place another potted plant next to the old one, and the larvae will instinctively move to it. , Pupation is when the caterpillar creates a chrysalis and undergoes metamorphosis, different species do this in different ways.
Instead of spinning a cocoon of forming one on a branch, the Privet Hawk Moth burrows into the ground to make a cocoon.
When the caterpillars gain a shade of brown on their backs and lose interest in food, you should transfer them to a deep bin of non-chemical topsoil.
After three weeks dig them up carefully, and place them in a tin.
Either store these in the fridge or another cold, frost-free environment such as your garage.
In the wild they would stay underground over the winter and hibernate so you put them in a fridge to simulate winter.
Do not keep them in a warm place because the warmth will cause premature emergence. , The following summer you should place the pupae on a sheet of corrugated cardboard in one of the grooves; this will aid with grip.
You should spritz the pupae with water to stop them from drying out, but do not saturate them! When your pupae hatch, place them in their cage again so their wings can dry in safety; then release them! -
Step 3: Hatch your eggs.
-
Step 4: Look after your larvae.
-
Step 5: Move your larvae to a larger home.
-
Step 6: Create the ideal conditions for pupation.
-
Step 7: Emerge your moths.
Detailed Guide
You can either buy your eggs from online breeders such as 'world wide butterflies'.
Or, you can find your own caterpillars in the wild; however this takes a long time and you need to be able to identify the caterpillar in order to provide correct food plant.
The best container to use is an old fish tank with fine mesh over the top and a lining of mud about 2 cm high.
Make sure your container is tall enough to hold tall living plants, and large enough that overcrowding of caterpillars does not occur.
Remember that larvae can grow up to 10cm! The two most dangerous things for a larvae are parasitic wasps and mold.
If the cage is not well ventilated, the caterpillar's frass (faeces) will go moldy.
If the cage is not screened with fine netting, parasitic wasps may kill your caterpillars.
If you are serious about breeding butterflies and moths, a specialist screen terrarium is a good investment. , Get a small tupperware box and line it with a sheet of toilet paper, gently lay your eggs onto this and close the lid.
To provide oxygen and moisture, you should open the lid and breathe on the eggs twice daily.
Do not put leaves in the box, as the sealed environment can cause some species of plant to produce gases that can harm the tiny eggs. , After the eggs have hatched, leave them in the box to eat their eggshells.
The eggshells contain nutrients that are essential for them to start eating.
Lay some cuttings of privet (or other food plant) in the box and transfer the caterpillars to a new box every two days.
To make sure you don't harm the caterpillars, use a fine paintbrush to gently transfer the tiny caterpillars from the box into one with fresh food. , Once the larvae have grown bigger, they will lay dormant for a few days and shed their skin; this is called ecdysis.
Do not mistake this for illness.
On the third instar (stage in between ecdysis), use your paintbrush and move the caterpillars to a live potted plant in the large container used before.
Every three days you should place another potted plant next to the old one, and the larvae will instinctively move to it. , Pupation is when the caterpillar creates a chrysalis and undergoes metamorphosis, different species do this in different ways.
Instead of spinning a cocoon of forming one on a branch, the Privet Hawk Moth burrows into the ground to make a cocoon.
When the caterpillars gain a shade of brown on their backs and lose interest in food, you should transfer them to a deep bin of non-chemical topsoil.
After three weeks dig them up carefully, and place them in a tin.
Either store these in the fridge or another cold, frost-free environment such as your garage.
In the wild they would stay underground over the winter and hibernate so you put them in a fridge to simulate winter.
Do not keep them in a warm place because the warmth will cause premature emergence. , The following summer you should place the pupae on a sheet of corrugated cardboard in one of the grooves; this will aid with grip.
You should spritz the pupae with water to stop them from drying out, but do not saturate them! When your pupae hatch, place them in their cage again so their wings can dry in safety; then release them!
About the Author
Diane Ferguson
Brings years of experience writing about creative arts and related subjects.
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