Don't think that cecropias are scarce just because you don't see them. They are not known for coming to lights so the best way to see how many are in your area is to put out a female but secure her in a way the males cannot get to her. And then you wait to see how many males show.

Cecropias are only black during 1st instar. Finding 1st instar cats in early August is like a needle in the haystack since almost all the moths would have eclosed long before this. It is possible but don't be surprised if they are something else.

Cecropias will change hostplant for something "better." The ones I raise on box elder maple are always eager to change to another hostplant. The ones I raise on black walnut will not change. I have never used New Jersey Tea so I'm no help there. My NJT bushes are still little things after all these years.

I've never gotten cecropias to touch tulip poplar.

When they are ready to pupate, they will make cocoons in whatever enclosure you have. Sometimes on their hostplant. Sometimes in a corner or side of the enclosure. Assuming you raise them in a place that is not getting 18 hours of light a day, you can keep the cocoons inside all winter. They will eclose at the same time as the wild ones.

Hi KC, Happy to hear from you. I guess if anyone knows about these moths, you do because I knew you have raised them for awhile already, and I'm glad to get some good advice because we're really new at this moth raising.

That's interesting to know that the cecropias might not be as scarce here as I've been believing all these years. I will have to do that next year, maybe put a female (how do you tell the difference) in an upside down laundry basket and wait for males to show up. Does it matter what time of day I do this? I guess they don't live long, so I would assume that as soon as a female ecloses (assuming at least one of these is a female) would be a good time to do that. I just didn't know if I put it outside during the day if the light would bother it. I think we're obsessing over these caterpillars. :)

I guess I should have explained better...my daughter found the cats about two weeks ago. They were 1st instar at the time, but now they turned green and they have those red bumps on them too, so I guess they're 2nd instar now. So it sounds like it's unusual that she found these so late, which makes sense since the adults eclose in the spring and only live a short while (I think Amber said "days"). The parents must have really been pokey. Oh, now that they've changed instars, there is no doubt that they are cecropias.

I guess my daughter will keep feeding them the NJ Tea since they're eating it. It stays fresh pretty long, I imagine long than tree leaves would, and they seem to like it, although they really eat slowly. Maybe they do that though?

I'm sorry to hear that your bushes haven't grown much. Mine also took pretty long to get to a decent size, like probably five years. That's interesting about the cecropias' preferences at your place. I guess we probably won't try tulip poplar then.

Cathy

KC, I never would have guessed that we can keep the cecropias in the house over the winter. By "inside" that is what you mean, right? We don't have a garage, so we wouldn't be able to sit them out there, but we do have a tool shed that I was going to put them in. I just assumed that they would be like butterflies and eclose prematurely in the middle of winter, thinking that it was spring.

Could you go into detail with your statement " Assuming you raise them in a place that is not getting 18 hours of light a day, you can keep the cocoons inside all winter." I'm not quite sure what you mean. We're raising them in plastic shoebox-sized containers that I cut part of the top out of and replaced with screen, and they get light from sunrise to sunset, which is probably about 14 hours, I think.

Cathy

Cecropias are single brooded in nature BUT some entomologist figured out you can screw with that by keeping the lights on while they are caterpillars. I've read the research but I don't remember the minimum # of hours necessary so I tossed out the 18 hours number. Bottom line is don't raise them in a place where you have lights on all the time. And this is usually true for any Lep since they use amount of light experienced as a larva as a cue for when to eclose.

Cecropias mate around first light (in their northernmost range, they operate differently). The birds are chirping but not flying yet. In my part of the world, I get up around 5:30 for this. Since you're east of me, I figure you would need to get up earlier.

I've had cecropias, raised the previous year, eclose in August. When they have been females, I don't remember them ever attracting a male. I usually have a number of July eclosures but this year everyone was out before July. You have me wondering when the latest mating was. Whether I search my notes for that info depends on how much I wonder about it. :)

Thank you for clarifying about raising them in certain hours of daylight. I know what you mean now. The cecropias are getting the same amount of light as what we are. :)

It sounds like doing the laundry basket experiment during the day to lure in males would work out okay then. I was thinking that whenever the female would eclose I'd put her in the basket, but now that you mentioned that your eclosed females didn't attract males, then I'm not sure how I'm going to get cecropia eggs. How do you get them? Or maybe the way you raise them is by capturing a female flying around (which wouldn't help us here since we never see them flying around) and then have her call in the males. That was just sheer luck that my daughter found them on the NJ Tea bushes, which they are still eating. They are so pretty. I'm curious how late your latest mating was. Maybe if you're curious enough about that, I might find out. ;-)

The eclosed females did not attract males in August. I have no problem attracting males in late May, June, and early July. I put the girls out in a bird cage I've modified. This is a pic of one male who did not think 3 was a crowd.

They are so amazingly beautiful!

Nice pic! I can hardly wait for them to eclose, but I'll have to be patient since it won't be until next year. They are so pretty! That's a good idea, using a bird cage. I have similar wire out in our tool building I could probably use for the cecropia attracting.