Madagascar comet moth cocoons: an incredible discovery
Madagascar comet moth cocoons are such a relevant topic nowadays, and Argema mittrei, also known as Madagascar moon moth, is one of most searched butterflies in the world. Here you will discover more about it and about its cocoons!
Argema mittrei: a wonderful specie
This specie is well known for being one of the most wonderful one in the enthomological world. Every butterfly expert dreams to be able to breed it at least once and we guess you want to do it, too.
As everybody knows, this wonderful specie is the queen of the rain forests of Madagascar. Having first described by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1847, it became a staple of beauty in lepidoptera world. Argema mittrei on the male is well knon for being one of the largest slik moths and for the production of the well known Madagascar comet moon cocoons.
Males in fact have a wingspan of twenty centimeters and a tail span of 15 centimeters. It is also really prolific: the females can lay up to 170 eggs. It is well known for being a voracious specie, since their larvae can stay on the plant for up to two months before turning to pupae.
Once turned to cocoon, its holes and air gapes are designed to keep it alive even in case of strong drowns, as the ones that rain forests of Madagascar always have. We will see why this nature design is so relevant not just for the moth, but also for modern science. Once out of the cocoon, the adult stays alive for up to five days, since its mouth can’t feed the butterfly.
Regarding the kind of feeding one can let larvae have it’s well known from scientific production that Uapaca species, Weinmania eriocampa and Eugenia cuneifolia are suitable. Also Sclerocarya caffra is a valid choice. All of these are available in its natural habitat.
It’s always better not to feed with other substitute plants but if you cannot in any other way, you could use Rhus cotinus, Eucalyptus gunnii, Pistacia terebinthus and others to feed their voracity.
If you want to learn more about eggs and pupae care, go ahead and read this article!
Madagascar comet moth cocoons: its usages
In 2018 an article regarding the use of the fibers from Argema mittrei cocoons was published. From the results of the studies it came out that these fibers had unique characteristics: in fact they had unique optical properties associated with one-dimensional nanostructures in the cocoons.
The fibers have in fact air voids distributed across the fiber in a cross-section but in a non variant manner. It also came out that these high density air voids strongly scatter light in the solar spectrum. A single silk fiber measuring of several microns thick can reflect 66% of incoming solar radiation.
Another quality that these scientists discovered is thatthe fibers have an high emissivity on the mid-infrared range: this would allow the use of the cocoons in the field of cooling, and particularly in the one related to radioactive cooling.
Take into account that this specie is anyway so relevant and related to its country, Madagascar, that it was even depicted on the former banknote of 1000 Malagasy ariary!
Madagascar comet moth cocoons: for sale
Finally, for the first time, we are able to offer Madagascar comet moth cocoons of the stunning Madagascar comet moth. Fresh Argema mittrei cocoons for sale now are ready to be shipped out. Huge specimens ranging from 15 to 22 grams, high quality.
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