Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Figured this thread was pretty far down and wanted you to get this. They will only feed on the trevo bush, Trevoa trinervis which grows in Chile so you will not find it at HD or your local nursery as it is not imported into the states. I happen to love these things because they will keep in the fridge for months! Just keep the lid off or poke holes and keep them in packing material (usually a shaved wood product). Take them out, let them warm up and offer them to your cham. Here is nutritional value form NY Worms:

Nutritional Information
Moisture 58.54
Ash 1.04
Protein 16.20
Fat 5.21
Calories/Fat 87.73
Calcium (ml/100 grs) 42.90*

lele

p.s. I get mine from herpfood.com but there are several suppliers.
NY Worms (butterworms)

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Yeah ... my cham thinks they are [bleep]in.

-roo

Thanks for the taxonomy on the trevo bush. I couldn't find it using my resources and was unfamiliar wit the plant myself apart from common name. I'll keep an eye out for it at some of the nursery sites I visit and let everyone know if I find it. Some of the plants you can find if you really look would suprise you sometimes...and then sometimes some of the plants you think would be readily available are not. It's just a matter of timing sometimes.

As I mentioned in the post it is not imported into the states. I guarantee you will not find it at any nursery you frequent. Also, anyone who does use these as feeders should never allow them to escape (not that it would be too easy), especially for those of you in warmer climates. One of the posters here, anson, has a picture framing business in S. FL and told me how destructive they can be.

lele

Go to this site and you can read about its invasive potential in Chile.
Wood Borers

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I went through your link and read through the info on Chilecomadia valdavinia which I am assuming is the chilean butterworm. from what I gathered they not only utilize the the trevoa bushes, but also use Willows (salix genus) which as far as I know are not historically indigenous to Chile (they are typically regarded as a northern hemisphere genus of trees) although I may be incorrect on that. Anyway a willow is pretty much a willow so you might have an avenue for raising them there. If you live in the western U.S. you may be able to find southern beeches (genus Nothophagus, most likely sp's obliqua or procera as these 2 are native to Chile.)as the west coast climate most closely resembles that of Chile. Any way that may help with trying to find something to feed them. Personally I would opt for other species of moths including indigenous ones which are reallyquite fine. I regarded butterworms as famine food for picky Jackson's chameleons during upstate N.Y. winters when I lived there. During spring summer and fall up there and year round down here (and 10yrs. later with a better selection of feeder insects)in fla I find them useless.

...which is the potential invasiveness of this species esp. in warmer climates. They, like many other organisms, have a natural balance with their native host plant(s). But, as mentioned in the article, they began to feed on eucalyptus and indirectly caused decline. (btw, the site I sent you to discusses a relative of the trevo moth, Chilecomadia moorei, but the entire genus is considered invasive outside its native environs).

You mentioned that you now live in FL and being into plants, as you seem to be, you will become aware of the problem with invasive plant species there (they are everywhere I am just mentioning this b/c it is where you now reside), as well as other invasive organisms. I have been long involved in the invasive spp. issue, (primarily plants and insects) and have seen the devastation of an introduced species, whether it be intentional via the nursery industry, as a biological control or inadvertently.

Another point is that, as you mentioned these are hardly a feeder to be offered with any regularity and breeding them would not be worth the effort or the possible problem. Someone gets a bunch, tries to feed on alternate host plant, their cham doesn’t want it so they throw them outside. Up here, they would not survive our winters, in other climates they most certainly would. This is exactly how some of our aquatic invasives got started – dumping an aquarium. Back to the butterworms, I feed them to Luna for their nutritional value and high calcium content esp. when gravid.

A note on the plants: there are species of Salix almost everywhere (over 300 spp.) from Arctic regions to southern Chile. Just FYI - a “willow is a willow” is not always true when it comes to host plants as some will feed only on a specific species within a family (Karner butterfly/lupine, Lupinus perennis) others may feed on any within a family (monarch/milkweed, Family: Asclepiadaceae), and others will feed on a variety of species completely unrelated.

I know we got away from the original poster’s question and he is long gone by now re: this thread!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta