Home - Wednesday June 10th 2015
Female Privet Hawk Moth
Over the Winter we’ve had the Chrysalis of 6 Privet Hawk Moths. The first Moth emerged about 10 days ago and has already been released. The 2nd and 3rd have emerged a male and female. We haven’t released them over the last two nights because the temperature has been on the low side but we released them today at about 6.30pm. We chose to release them at this time because most of the bird activity had died down in the garden and there was still a bit of warmth in the late afternoon Sun.
I thought it might be interesting to give you a few facts about the Privet Hawk Moth:
Male Privet Hawk Moth
· Their Scientific name is Sphinx ligustri.
· They are mostly found in the Southern part of the UK but as with a lot of species they are gradually moving Northwards due to the effects of global warming.
· They are normally on the wing during June & July.
· They are normally found in gardens and woodland.
· The larvae (caterpillars) feed on privet, lilac and ash.
· The adult moths can live up to 5 weeks.
· They are the largest (wingspan up to 120mm) of our resident Hawk Moths and as you can see from the pictures are quite attractive, they can be difficult to find.
· The caterpillars (85mm) are bright green with purple and white stripes down their sides.
· The easiest way to find the caterpillars is to look for their largish tell-tale droppings (6mm) which are described as hand grenade shaped.
· When the caterpillars are ready to pupate they bury themselves in leaf litter where they over Winter and emerge the following Summer.
· The chrysalis is dark brown with a sharp point at the end of the abdomen and a small loop at the head. If you pick them up they will move a little.
· They are considered an easy Moth to rear.
Female Privet Hawk Moth
One of the problems of overwintering the chrysalis is heat. Most of us live in nice cosy centrally heated homes. If they are kept in a high heat for too long they may well emerge too early to be released. We kept ours in the fridge wrapped in soft tissue paper (not the freezer) until the weather started to warm up naturally. We then placed them in an old aquarium (you can buy commercially made net containers Amazon eBay etc.) with compost on the bottom. We placed them on corrugated cardboard (packing) to allow the air to circulate around them. It is recommended that increasing the humidity helps them but the danger with that is that it can also cause the chrysalis to rot if it is too high, we didn’t change the humidity at all.
The aquarium should be covered preferably with something that allows the free passage of air to stop the adult moths escaping or pests (particularly Parasitic Wasps) from entering.
You will need to place some twigs in the aquarium to allow the moths to climb onto once they’ve emerged and when they’ve hatched you will need to give them some food either a proprietary butterfly/moth feed that you mix up or a mixture of sugar and water (1 part sugar to 7 parts water or mashed banana) some adult moths don’t feed but the longer living ones do.
If you are planning to breed them you will need the the plants required for that particular Moth (i.e. in this case privet, lilac or ash). Once the eggs have hatched you will need to keep their food fresh and in water but covering the neck of the container so as the caterpillars can’t fall in and change daily or as required.
When you release the adult moths place them either where you found them or if you reared them near a suitable bush or tree so they can clamber into the foliage.
You can buy larvae and chrysalis from various sources either eBay, Amazon or the Lepidoptera Breeders Association who who will give advice etc. Give it a try and help give our Butterflies and Moths a helping hand. We have successfully reared Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady Butterflies from caterpillars and Privet and Elephant Hawk Moths from caterpillar and chrysalis.
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting (or rearing).
Over the Winter we’ve had the Chrysalis of 6 Privet Hawk Moths. The first Moth emerged about 10 days ago and has already been released. The 2nd and 3rd have emerged a male and female. We haven’t released them over the last two nights because the temperature has been on the low side but we released them today at about 6.30pm. We chose to release them at this time because most of the bird activity had died down in the garden and there was still a bit of warmth in the late afternoon Sun.
One of the problems of overwintering the chrysalis is heat. Most of us live in nice cosy centrally heated homes. If they are kept in a high heat for too long they may well emerge too early to be released. We kept ours in the fridge wrapped in soft tissue paper (not the freezer) until the weather started to warm up naturally. We then placed them in an old aquarium (you can buy commercially made net containers Amazon eBay etc.) with compost on the bottom. We placed them on corrugated cardboard (packing) to allow the air to circulate around them. It is recommended that increasing the humidity helps them but the danger with that is that it can also cause the chrysalis to rot if it is too high, we didn’t change the humidity at all.
You will need to place some twigs in the aquarium to allow the moths to climb onto once they’ve emerged and when they’ve hatched you will need to give them some food either a proprietary butterfly/moth feed that you mix up or a mixture of sugar and water (1 part sugar to 7 parts water or mashed banana) some adult moths don’t feed but the longer living ones do.
You can buy larvae and chrysalis from various sources either eBay, Amazon or the Lepidoptera Breeders Association who who will give advice etc. Give it a try and help give our Butterflies and Moths a helping hand. We have successfully reared Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady Butterflies from caterpillars and Privet and Elephant Hawk Moths from caterpillar and chrysalis.
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