Subject: Re: Hackberry butterflies (fwd)

From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 16:03:34 -0400

Subject:     Re: Hackberry butterflies (fwd)
Sent:        6/30/96 3:45 PM
To:          [email-masked]

Hi Andrea, further your mail:

>       I found your note in the Lepidoptera List. My name is Andrea Knebel
>and I work with the desert hackberry, Asterocampa leilia, in Arizona. I am
>a grad student here at Arizona State University. In our lab we raise the
>hackberries butterflies for a long time now and I do not think it is so much
>fun. Maybe that is because the desert hackberry we have to feed them is more
>difficult to get. What kind of hackberry butterflies did you raise?
>       I also would be interested in the nature of the "Gren gunk disease".
>The survival rate of our butterfly caterpillars is not very hight and we
>have
>a disease that makes the larvae or even the pupae turn black and become
>soft and die.
>       I also did some emergence experiments with them. And in our lab the
>butterflies also "poped" out of the pupae very early in the morning. I
>would be very interested in this data also. It was too sad that I could
>not figure out were you are, so that I have no idea under which conditions
>you reared them. The conditions are influencing the emergence pattern here.

I live in Northern New Jersey and have been raising various species of
butterflies from eggs through to eclosed butterflies for about 6 years
and keeping a journal of my observations. I do have a science background,
but consider myself an ameteur naturalist and observer, not an expert.
For more info on the Green Gunk disease, please see my mail to Elizabeth
Munger sent on June 30. The mail was also addressed to the general list.
As far as I know, I raised Asterocampa celis (Hackberry) and Asterocampa
clyton (Tawny Emperor). This is their northerly most range on the east
coast, or at least that's what I've been told. I had very good success
rates with them, but it took a tremendous amount of time and attention.
However, I do it because I love raising and releasing butterflies in
their natural environments, considering the drops in populations I've
observed in the last few years.

The time of eclosure seemed to be consistent. They always popped very
early in the morning (between 4-8am) It took them at least 2-4 hours
before they were fully pumped up and had expelled all their liquid. At
that point, they were eager to eat a mixture of fermented fruit which I
use for some butterlies & be released.If I can be of any further help,
please contact me and I will reply as soon as possible.

Linda Waldman

---

From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 21:49:58 -0400

Hi Andrea, further your note:

>Could you also tell me under which conditions you reared teh hackberry
>butterflies. In regard to hours of light they where exposed to? And under
>which temperature you kept them in?

Once the eggs hatched, the larvae were kept in aquariums on a covered
screened porched in indirect sunlight so as not to heat up the little
critters too much. I kept the larvae on fresh hackberry leaves, with the
stems stuck in jars filled with galss balls and pebbles with the water
level below the balls so the small caterpillars would not drown. On a
daily basis, I would take the larvae on their leaves and stems out of the
aquarium and into direct sunlight in the late afternoon for about an hour
keeping an ever watchful eye out for the wasps and other predators. I
changed the leaves usually every day or two, but never longer than three
days. I always found it difficult to keep track of them all because they
hide very well among the leaves and there are usually 15-20 at a time, in
different stages of developement. The growing season here in Northern NJ
starts usually in the middle of May and runs through the eclosures in
June & July. The temperatures varied per year, usually in the beginning
in the mid 60's-low 70's. If I had a cold or wet spell where the temp
dropped below 55F I would bring the aquariums into my kitchen near the
stove. As I mentioned my work is very home-grown, no labs. Usually the
larvae eat more and advanced thru instars more quickly when the temp was
highter. By the end of June/beginning of July when the last butterlies
were eclosing, the temp by midday is around 85-95F. I think the reason
they eclose so early in the morning is because the predators aren't
around in the early am. But that's just speculation, no real scientific
theory. If you can't find my e-mail about the Green Gunk disease let me
know and I'll send it your way. It was a very strange experience. I was
operating totally in the dark, without a clue as to what was happening. I
still don't know the causal factors - could have been anything from
poisoned leaves to Hackberry cholera. I've checked with many
professionals in the field and have not found a satisfactory answer as to
cause and effect. Maybe, someone on the list who has more knowledge than
I can chime in here with some remarks on the matter if they have been
following the threads.

If I can help you with anything else with me know.

Regards,
Linda Waldman