Samia ricini & Antherina suraka eggs available now
We are offering eggs of two different moth species, Samia ricini and Antherina suraka. Both of them are suitable for beginners and strongly recommended for winter breeding, as their host plants are evergreen. In this short article they are briefly described together with some rearing tips.
Samia ricini “XXL” strain
Samia ricini, a member of the Saturniidae family, is the perfect species to start with. The Eri silk moth is very easy to rear and breed and produces quality white silk, that can be valuable for homemade spinning.
These eggs are from the largest European captive reared Samia ricini line, that we have called Samia ricini XXL. Adults are very large and wingspan can reach 16cm. Their viability is also improved compared to other S. ricini strains.
About Samia ricini rearing and breeding
Samia ricini is a domesticated species, this means that has progressively lost some features of it’s wild counterpart, adapting and being selected for captive rearing conditions. Domesticated species are resistant to heavy inbreeding, they can be reared for years without the need to refresh their blood with animals coming from other lines.
Caterpillar breeding represents the funniest though hardest part in Lepidoptera breeding. A general rule is: less you interfere with them, better they will do. Observation is the best way to interact with them. When you receive Samia ricini eggs, store them in a small plastic container, allowing little aeration. Petri dishes are perfect to this purpose.
Buy moth eggs – click here to visit the shop
Eri silk worms eat their own eggshell upon hatching, thus don’t remove them before caterpillar have started to eat the leaves. Caterpillars will spread inside the box afterwards; for this reason is better to avoid big containers. This is time to add the first fresh leaves inside; caterpillars will sense the presence of the host plant and converge on it. In general, after hatching, caterpillars tend to rest for a while and then spread almost randomly for several hours.
Read more about caterpillar rearing here in our “Lepidoptera breeding” section – click here
Antherina suraka wild eggs
Antherina suraka eggs for sale, obtained from wild parents from Madagascar. Eggs are collected from different fertilized females and shipped maximum 2 days after egg laying. This will guarantee a very strong genetic pool, on top of which many further generations can be achieved.
Eggs hatch in 10-14 days after egg laying and larvae can be easily several hosts. Best results were obtained on Nerium oleander. If oleander leaves are too thick for the young caterpillars, start with Ligustrum ones. Afterwards, you can decide to close the cycle with the same plant or either shift them back to their main host (N. oleander). This operation can be performed at any larval stage but is recommended from L3 onwards, when they have developed larger moth parts that can easily bite N. oleander leaves.
About Antherina suraka rearing and breeding
The Madagascar bullseye moth (cover image) is a species which never tire us of breeding it. We have just finished rearing a large batch of caterpillars and the cocoons will be available for sale soon. We started by splitting the brood in half. One was fed with Ligustrum ovalifolium while the other on Nerium oleander. Although the Ligustrum leaves are easily accepted by younger caterpillars and they eventually develope very well, upon growing they present higher variability in size and a lower final average cocoon size. For this reason, if you have it available, we strongly suggest to use N. oleander instead of Ligustrum sp.
Antherina is a monotypic moth genus in the family Saturniidae erected in 1815 by William Elford Leach. Its only species, the Suraka silk moth, was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1833. Both the larva and the pupa are consumed in parts of its native country, but in a decreasing fashion. Visit Inaturalist to check the Madagascar bullsey moth distribution and latest reportsacross its native