ladysilkworm
Established Member
Why do some of us have success at getting the eggs from our silkmoths to hatch in merely two weeks and without refrigeration, and while some of ours take a year to hatch? The following findings can help better explain..
visit ladysilkworm http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flushing-NY/LadySilkworm/134823156541316 on FB. It has a lot of findings.
***
After researching and talking to experts in the area, I finally found out why certain eggs hatch and certainly eggs do not, despite the hybridized voltinity issues. They really can take on the qualities of both! hibernating and nonhibernating.
1. Right condition has to be met. Not just in temperature.
2. Right time of year has to be met.
3. The eggs will decide whether they want to hatch or not depending on the climate.
4. These queues can also be controlled during the maternal larval stage and during the cocooning stage and egg laying stage. You can also chemically inject hormones into the mother moth to make them lay non-hibernating eggs at any time.
5. Can also be controlled by YOU, the breeder. You can mimick the season by playing mother nature.
However, the strains available here will only continue to hatch twice a year.. (still a big if) then you need to winterize to mimick another YEAR to make the bivoltine ability to start over again, the next Spring. In summer, their eggs will hatch right away. ( I need a year to test out this theory and it is too late to start)
So, for some people who's had success, you hit on something right!!
Basically, you get your eggs (doesnt matter where) in Spring. Breed them. Their eggs will hatch in room temp at around June.
Then the moths lay in July/Aug. These eggs WILL NOT HATCH. Put them in the fridge for 2-3 months
Take them out and incubate.
After their moths lay eggs, they most likely wont hatch. Because it is still winter time. The day length is too short. So you must put them away now.
However, this isn't exact. Because you rear them at home, and home climate isn't nature.
Ok, That's the mystery, if any at all.. It suddenly all makes a lot of sense!
I had email exchanges with a phD. She has been doing this for 30 yrs, She can control them using a home refrigerator to make their hormones change. But she thought silkworms day in and day out for that 30 yrs. LOL
#
How to tell if they have gone into diapause?
If the eggs are yellow, wait a few days.. if it develops head pigmentation, it will turn grey and hatch within days.
If the eggs remain yellow for more than 1 week, it is not fertile.
If they turn purple/brown and stay that way, it is diapaused. Put them away. The eggs you receive from suppliers are diapaused, but have been broken by acid wash.
In one batch of eggs that your moths laid, it is a possible that some hatch and some don't. Like in July, they are not sure what they want to do. So some went on to hatch, some went into hibernation. Just put the rest in the fridge after a sporadic unseasonal hatching.
If you are feeding on chow, this may make things different. The queue is given in the leaves too . Spring leaves are young and nutritious. Fall leaves are not as vibrant and are fading in nutritional value...so the silkwroms know there wont be much food left for their next gen. But with chow, they are not sure what is going on.. so much food everywhere. But of course,if you starved them and make them cold so they wont grow too big, then, that changes their instinct too.
The silkworms know what to do with their eggs, and so does the silkworm egg factory. They just put all eggs away, and acid wash whenever they need to get them to hatch, despite the length of time in the fridge. That's why it is easier for you to get them from suppliers. That is why they can be a very profitable business. But imagine if you did this right, like SandraChameleon, (ok to mention name?) then you save your self a lot of money!!
I hope this all makes sense.
I know, I know, I am more into silkworms than into chameleons.. that is only because my young kids will kill the cham.. they kill the silkworms just about one a day!
visit ladysilkworm http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flushing-NY/LadySilkworm/134823156541316 on FB. It has a lot of findings.
***
After researching and talking to experts in the area, I finally found out why certain eggs hatch and certainly eggs do not, despite the hybridized voltinity issues. They really can take on the qualities of both! hibernating and nonhibernating.
1. Right condition has to be met. Not just in temperature.
2. Right time of year has to be met.
3. The eggs will decide whether they want to hatch or not depending on the climate.
4. These queues can also be controlled during the maternal larval stage and during the cocooning stage and egg laying stage. You can also chemically inject hormones into the mother moth to make them lay non-hibernating eggs at any time.
5. Can also be controlled by YOU, the breeder. You can mimick the season by playing mother nature.
However, the strains available here will only continue to hatch twice a year.. (still a big if) then you need to winterize to mimick another YEAR to make the bivoltine ability to start over again, the next Spring. In summer, their eggs will hatch right away. ( I need a year to test out this theory and it is too late to start)
So, for some people who's had success, you hit on something right!!
Basically, you get your eggs (doesnt matter where) in Spring. Breed them. Their eggs will hatch in room temp at around June.
Then the moths lay in July/Aug. These eggs WILL NOT HATCH. Put them in the fridge for 2-3 months
Take them out and incubate.
After their moths lay eggs, they most likely wont hatch. Because it is still winter time. The day length is too short. So you must put them away now.
However, this isn't exact. Because you rear them at home, and home climate isn't nature.
Ok, That's the mystery, if any at all.. It suddenly all makes a lot of sense!
I had email exchanges with a phD. She has been doing this for 30 yrs, She can control them using a home refrigerator to make their hormones change. But she thought silkworms day in and day out for that 30 yrs. LOL
#
How to tell if they have gone into diapause?
If the eggs are yellow, wait a few days.. if it develops head pigmentation, it will turn grey and hatch within days.
If the eggs remain yellow for more than 1 week, it is not fertile.
If they turn purple/brown and stay that way, it is diapaused. Put them away. The eggs you receive from suppliers are diapaused, but have been broken by acid wash.
In one batch of eggs that your moths laid, it is a possible that some hatch and some don't. Like in July, they are not sure what they want to do. So some went on to hatch, some went into hibernation. Just put the rest in the fridge after a sporadic unseasonal hatching.
If you are feeding on chow, this may make things different. The queue is given in the leaves too . Spring leaves are young and nutritious. Fall leaves are not as vibrant and are fading in nutritional value...so the silkwroms know there wont be much food left for their next gen. But with chow, they are not sure what is going on.. so much food everywhere. But of course,if you starved them and make them cold so they wont grow too big, then, that changes their instinct too.
The silkworms know what to do with their eggs, and so does the silkworm egg factory. They just put all eggs away, and acid wash whenever they need to get them to hatch, despite the length of time in the fridge. That's why it is easier for you to get them from suppliers. That is why they can be a very profitable business. But imagine if you did this right, like SandraChameleon, (ok to mention name?) then you save your self a lot of money!!
I hope this all makes sense.
I know, I know, I am more into silkworms than into chameleons.. that is only because my young kids will kill the cham.. they kill the silkworms just about one a day!
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