Silk moths ahhhhh help please

Beman

Social Media Manager
Staff member
Ok so I have a total of 10 cocoons. 5 really large ones and 5 smaller ones. Two of the smaller ones were trying to get out of their cocoons this morning. I had to help cut away a bit of the cocoon and then I got these! But my first question is does small mean males and large mean females? Also do I have to put heat on them? Ambient air temp is about 68-70.


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The males stay alive longer then the females. I think mine lived 5 days after they came out. All my females died in Cocoons
 
The males stay alive longer then the females. I think mine lived 5 days after they came out. All my females died in Cocoons
Ok well at least I now know first hand what it looks like when they are ready. Did you put a heat lamp on them? Or what was the temp you had?
 
Ummm so I thought I had two males because they came out of the small cocoons... But do I actually have a male and a female???? And is this them breeding? And why does only one have wings :(
@Matt Vanilla Gorilla
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Yup, Male and female, breeding and wings don't always develop well on silkworms due to the years of domestication other factors affecting wing development are conditions when they emerged out of the cocoon, how big they were when the worms cocooned etc.
 
Yup, Male and female, breeding and wings don't always develop well on silkworms due to the years of domestication other factors affecting wing development are conditions when they emerged out of the cocoon, how big they were when the worms cocooned etc.
Yayyyyy Matt I got breeding silks! How long should I leave the food mixture in? I don’t want her to lay eggs on it.
 
I've had some black/grey fertilized eggs for months in ambient temps, are they no good?? How long does it take for them to hatch, how do you get them to hatch??
 
It is ok for freshly laid eggs to sit at room temperature for a few weeks. Then the eggs need to be refrigerated for 2.5 to 3 months. Once you remove them from the refrigerator they hatch within 7 to 11 days.
 
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