Subject: Re: Hackberry butterflies

From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 1996 16:45:30 -0400

Dear Elizabeth,

I have been raising butterflies since 1988 & am an ameteur naturalist &
observer. My background is in the sciences but I don't pretend to present
this as scientific truth.

The eggs of both Hackberries and Tawny Emperor's are laid in large
clusters of approximately 100-150 eggs on the underside of usually young
hackberry trees (bush used interchangably). They are white to begin with
and gradually over 7-10 days turn greenish-brown, with the larvae visible
inside.

The larvae all hatch at approximately the same time. They are very social
creatures and tend to stay together on the same leaves in groups. The
time period to pupation varies with weather, food supply, etc. from
between 18-25 days. However, something strange occurs when you raise them
indoors. A number of the larvae grow very quickly and pupate within about
2 weeks, The remaining larvae remain inactive until most of the others
have pupated and then begin to grow very quickly. I don't know if this
occurs in the wild. Also, leaves on small twigs need to be changed every
1-2 days. They should be washed thoroughly and shaken dry before
replacing the old. The larvae are very good at hiding out on the leaves
so be very careful not to throw any out.

The pupation process takes approximately 12-16hours. The pupa is between
5/8-7/8" and matures in 11-14days.

If I can be a any further help, e-mail me and I will try to assist. I
have also raised a number of other species for release in native
environments.
Linda Waldman

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From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 23:15:53 -0400

Subject:     Re: Hackberry butterflies
Sent:        6/24/96 7:23 PM
To:          Elizabeth A. Munger, [email-masked]
             LEPS List, [email-masked]

Elizabeth,

Your hackberries will eat the more mature leaves as long as you keep the
stem in water ( a mason jar filled with glass balls and/or pebbles with
the water level a little bit below the level of the balls so the little
larvae don't drown) and mist the leaves in the morning and afternoon.
Also, keep the aquarium or whatever you are keeping them in out of
diresct sunlight. If necessary, keep them indoors. That should solve the
problem.

One other thing - Beware the dreaded Green gunk disease. I found a way to
prevent most of them form dying which surprised I have no idea what it
is. I checked with Eric Quinter, a lepidopterist at the American Museum
of Natural History in NYC and he didn't know what it was either. He said
it sounded like "Nuclear Polyhedrosis" but that is always fatal, usually
within 12 hours. This was back in 1991. Maybe someone can chime in here
who has some formal training and give an answer.

Again, good luck with your larvae. They are a joy to raise and see pop
out of the pupa. By the way they almost always pop, at least here, very
early in the a.m. - between 4-8am

Linda Waldman

Note: re-sent 6/25

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From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 16:03:37 -0400

Sent:        6/30/96 3:23 PM

Hi Elizabeth,

Linda Waldman here. Hope your eggs are hatched and your little larvae are
eating up a storm. Now to the "Green Gunk" disease for lack of a better
name.  After a spell of cold, rainy weather in 1991, I went out to check
my aquariums and butterfly garden very early in the morning to find all
my Hackberry and Tawny Emperor larvae fallen off their leaves and on the
floor of the aquariums in pools of green liquid. They seemed moribund, to
say the least. The liquid seemed to be excreted as if they had cholera or
some type of serious diarrhea. I immediately removed them from their
environment (I had lots of pupas maturing and didn't want them infected),
spread out some paper towels, gently layed them on the towels and put
them in some indirect sunlight. I then spritzed the larvae with fresh
spring water. They were very soft and I thought all would die. That's
when I called Eric Quinter with my problem. However, he didn't know what
the disease was; only the guess about Nuclear Polyhedrosis. After the
sick larvae laid around on the paper towels for about six hours, they
started to move around. I returned them to a completely new cleaned up
environment (another aquarium) with fresh tender young leaves, spritzed
them again with fresh spring water, and hoped for the best. After another
6-8 hours, I checked again and some were actually eating and moving
around. Eventually, I managed to save all but one larva who became very
soft again, excreted more grren liquid, and fell dead. All the other
larvae survived, pupated and eclosed as healthy, normal butterflies which
I released in their normal environment.

As I said before, I am an amateur and observer. I keep the journals for
my own reference, but I am glad I have been able to give you some info on
these cute little larvae. I live in  northern New Jersey which is
considered the most northerly range for Hackberries and Tawny Emperors.
Hackberry trees are hard to find in this general area. They are a second
story tree in the northern deciduous forests, so it was really exciting
to be able to raise and release a bunch of butterflies in an area which
was devoid of them for a period of years.
If I can be of any other help to you with this species or others you
might try to raise, let me know. I'll try to offer any help I can.

Regards, Linda Waldman 6/30/96

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From: "J. L. Waldman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 21:50:04 -0400

Hi Elizabeth,

Glad to hear all is well. Once the larvae go through a few instars they
usually start to eat prodigiously. Amazing amounts. I found once some
start to pupate, the growing larvae are still very social and will stay
on the leaf, right next to the pupa. Actually, sometimes the larvae eat
all but a tiny bit of the leaf that the pupa is attached to. Watch out
for falling pupa. I sometimes separate the two when it's very crowded so
the pupas don't get stressed out. Sometime they wriggle like mad when one
of their compatriots decides to chew up the entire leaf they are attached
to. Usually, it all ends well with no harm done. The pupa as they mature
are absolutely marvelous looking. I'm sure you will enjoy the
observations. Keep me posted. I'm always happy to hear about more
Butterflies being released in deprived environments.

Happy 4th.
Regards,
Linda Waldman