Actias artemis
300 rub.

Actias artemis (Actias artemis)

Phylum — arthropoda
Class — insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family — saturniidae

Genus – actias

Appearance

The wingspan is 106-112 mm. The color of the wings is pale bluish-green. In the middle of each wing there is a round spot with a narrow transparent window, surrounded at the edges by yellow stripes. Hind wings are with long tails. The body is densely pubescent. Females like males have got the long tails on the hind wings.

Habitat

Actias artemis is a moth native to Japan, Korea, China, India and Malaysia.

Behavior

These butterflies do not eat, they are active at night and at dusk. Butterflies often fly to artificial light sources.

Reproduction

Eggs are laid on Mongolian oak, plum, cherry and many other plants where the caterpillars feed.

The caterpillar is bright green, reaching the length of 10 cm by the end of its growth. The duration of incubation of cocoons is 18-20 days, males start mating 1-2 days after departure, the female lays an average of 200-220 eggs.

The embryonic stage lasts 11-12 days, the average duration of ages (in days): I-7; II-10; III-8; IV-5; V-9, pupation is extended.

In captivity

It is convenient to keep caterpillars of all ages in plastic bags without a bottom (their size is 180x70 cm). In the walls of the bag in the upper and lower parts (1/4 from the edge), make two (opposite each other) windows from the gas grid (24x20 cm). Oak bouquets are put in bags, the caterpillars are placed and the edges are tied with a rope, the bags are hung from the wire with hooks. Having a positive phototaxis, the caterpillars crawl to a fresh bouquet, then the old one and the excrement are removed.

It is necessary to shade pupae of caterpillars of IV-V ages to obtain wintering. The pupae are kept at a temperature of 19±2 °С for 2 months, then transferred to the basement at t + 10-12 °С until January, after which they are stored in the refrigerator at + 2 °С until spring incubation. Incubation of the pupae, as well as all the process of getting eggs and feeding the caterpillars, is carried out at 19±2 °С.