Hi Kim,



Well, it looks like someone went to the site I always suggest SaveFerris is correct and I am glad he quoted the info. The site he posted in your earlier thread www.pclaunch.com/~kayton/silk.htm is the one I always recommend. It has great info because it is geared toward teachers and students. The other one is:

www.sericulum.com/planner.html. They have a "planner" that breaks down the life stages.



as for dangling it by a "thread"....not an easy feat. I would just put it in a cup. When it is spinning, it will stop when you (or another "predator" LOL!) bother it. As you know, I rear the Giant Silks and they are very cute. The will just tuck their head under for protection.



Feed the adults to Zoe. No sense in wasting a good meal. Keep a few if you want eggs. The easiest way to determine the gender is by the antennae (true with most moths). The males are MUCH larger than the female. The link below shows the slim female antennae. Now Kim, you know how I love to give my online science lessons the reason the males have larger antennae is b/c this is how they “smell” or sense the pheromones the female releases in order to attract a mate. Some species of moths can “scent” a female up to 4 miles away! Check out this link for a really neat pic!!! http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/Animal Behavior/a_male_silkworm_moth.htm



A less predictable way to tell the sex is that females make bigger cocoons and are larger moths. This is b/c they already have hundreds of infertile eggs and have larger abdomens. May be a little hard to tell in this photo (Cc, my miracle Hyalophora cecropia but her belly was HUGE!!! you can see some eggs she had laid up near her legs. I collected about 70 and then released her to deposit the final 200 in the wild



btw, the BEST way to determine gender is when they mate! LOL!!!

Link

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