We miss Larry's (ladobe's) input, don't we?

The thing is that GSF cats eat at night and hide during the day. So you might have the best success with a terrarium arrangement: soil, extra plants and dead leaves on the sides, violets in the middle.

This is pure speculation, and you might get more professional information from, say, this fellow:

http://www.raisingbutterflies.org/techniques-for-caring-for-imma/

Jeff

Bernergirl,

What a wonderful find. I think if you can duplicate the natural habitat as closely as possible, you will have good luck. It's funny how the caterpillars look so different from the other fritillaries. They look more like the Vanessas to me.

Jeff, I sent a message to Larry last night and got a response. He said to tell everyone hello. He checks in on the BF forum from time to time. His energy level is very low. I felt so bad because it took him three hours to write a response to my email. I miss his expertise so much. He always told it exactly how it was, too!

I have a young woman, about 13, from Michigan, that has been corresponding with me about butterflies. She found my pbase photo gallery and wrote a message to me. She is so enthusiastic! But I caught myself repeating to her something that Larry always said to us, so I just had to share with him. Also, she is keeping me on my toes to research anything and everything I share with her in response to her questions.

Larry is missing his Vanessa cardui. Said he hasn't seen any this year. He does not leave his bungalow, but does sit on the porch. He said there is good habitat around.

Sandy

Thanks for filling us in, Sandy.

Glad to see you in touch with the next generation. Get 'em young, train 'em right.

Jeff

I miss Larry too! I am glad to hear he is still around, even if his energy is low.

Congratulations on your caterpillars. They are hard to find. I know there is a classic paper on raising fritillaries (Rearing Techniques for Species of Speyeria by S.O. Matton, et al). It's kind of old but useful and I got it off the internet. They really didn't take any extra precautions once the larvae were past the 2nd instar. They used net bags on violets and they indicated that they pupate in there sometimes.

Good luck,
Elisabeth

Thanks everyone--Jeff that link is loading right now in another tab. I got one of those six-celled plant flats and put violet plants in a couple and loosely stuffed some plugs of grass and other debris for them to hide.

The smaller one is hiding somewhere while the larger one is mysteriously hanging out on the side of the pavilion.

I am another one missing Larry. Thank you for keeping us updated about him.

Elisabeth--I was wondering where they pupate--if they pupate on the ground or on a plant.

Thanks again--nice to have some others share my enthusiasm for finding them.

I don't have any advice about how to raise them, but congrats, congrats, on finding them!
Keep us posted.
Sherry

So, the big guy is happily munching on some leaves--he came down from the side. Wasn't expecting him to hang out on the side so out in the open.

Congratulations on your GSFs, Bernergirl! They are so cute. What species of Violaceae did you find them on? Always curious about host plants in other areas.

I, too, really miss Larry's input on this forum. What a guy!

Susan

I know that a lot of the ground pupating leps will pupate even if they can't get underground. It is not necessary for them to have it to pupate. I believe this would be true for the frits as indicated by the Mattoon (I misspelled Mattoon)paper. When the cats are ready to pupate a container with papertowels works well. They can burrow under the paper towels if they want to.
-Elisabeth

Hi Susan,

I found the big one on the common violets--not sure the scientific name, but I'll be checking it out. The other one was on what looks like a common violet, but it has white flowers.

Last year, I went to great lengths to ID some of the other violets I have. One is Viola lanceolata and the other Arrow-leaved Violet (Viola sagittata).

I think I have Canadian violets around here too--maybe that was what the second one was on because it has white flowers and the typical heart-shaped leaves.

I hope I can get them to adult-hood. I love these butterflies and have been wanting to find the cats for so long.

I have Violaceae soraria, with purple blooms, heart-shaped leaves, and lots of the common "Johnny Jump Ups", bicolor white, yellow, blue. I have only found Variegated Frits once on the soraria, which was kindly sent to me by another butterflier in Pennsylvania. I thought perhaps you might have this one, too. I have never gotten any on the JJUs. I don't get GSFs here in OKC, because they are found north of me. But VFs are found here. I haven't see too many of those either in the past 2 or 3 years.

Anyway, keep us posted on the progress of your cats if you will. I think GSFs are one of our prettiest butterflies.

Susan

This topic is great. I get GSFs around here but for some reason I had never wondered what their hostplants were. Now I'll be keeping an eye on my violets for leaf damage.

KC

I have a ton of GS frits in my yard. I have only Viola canadensis. Except for one little Viola lanceolata in a pot. I think your discription of them moving quickly through the sod is why we never see them.
-Elisabeth

The older caterpillar is in J formation--on the zipper at the top of the pavilion of all places. At least I have the bottom side zipper, so I can get fresh plants in to the other cat.

Yikes, I've been pulling up the wild violets by the handfuls around here. I wonder if we get the Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies here in my area (mid central Arkansas).

Congratulations on your wonderful discovery and thanks for the heads up on this host plant; I'm off to do some research.

Mary

Mary, you should have Variegated Fritillaries in your area. They also use violets.

Here's the place to check on your local species, BTW.

That said, violets are ... erm, "vigorous spreaders." I have a peanut gallery reserved for them and I bounce anyone who gets out of his seat.

Jeff

I use common violets as "ground covers" in my garden. If VFs show up, and GF cats are all over the vines, they'll use the violets.
We have a white flowered violet/V. primulifolia that's very pretty, but the VFs won't touch it.
Sherry

Mary, I've forgotten what part of Arkansas you're in, but the gorgeous dianas occur in almost the entire western portion of your state. If I lived anywhere near those beauties, I'd have plenty of violets on hand!
Sherry

Now that I'm dealing with the effects of going soft on the sheep sorrel from last year, I can understand how Jeff only allows a certain amount of space for violets. The violets are also spreading, but it's kind of nice to have extra plants to dig up to put in the pavilion for the frits.

The big cat pupated last night, and it stayed at the top of the cage. The chrysalis is pretty boring.

{{gwi:471101}}

Does anyone know how long they remain in the pupal stage?

I don't know how long they stay in the pupal stage, but to me, that chrysalis is anything but boring - congrats, congrats!!
Sherry

Congrats BG for successfully rearing the cats to the pupal stage. I'm with Sherry, nothing boring at all. Guess the only way to find out how long they pupate, is to wait until they eclose.

Sandy

There will come a time soon when I let the perennial bed go to town ... I've got several different "aggressive spreaders" and once they get to the point that they'll rough up the weeds good, I'll let them have at each other.

---

The GSF chrysalis is really exciting. :)

Just saw this bernergrrl, but maybe I can toss you a few bones. Fun find for you.

The Fritillaries as a group are pretty easy to rear. Hardest to deal with successfully is wintering over their larva ( Speyeria 1st instar, Boloria 3rd instar). Took us some years to figure out methods that gave us a higher percentage of success with the Speyeria larva, the Boloria being older were not that hard. For collected larva like yours the battle is already pretty much won since you dont have to over-winter. I reared all species of both Speyeria and Boloria in the same micro habitat water cages that I reared 95% of all species in using cut food plant. A few strips of paper towel bunched up and wound loosely around the stalks of the plants gave them a place to hide if they wanted it (many didnÂt), yet didnÂt add a contamination problem to the environment because it got changed daily when the cage was cleaned and new plant was put in. They are an early summer to fall flier, so your pupae will eclose this year. Finding larva out in nature is like looking for that needle in a hay stack, so we relied on eggs from gravid females caught or hand pairings, and then had to deal with the over-wintering thing.

Jeff,
In reference to your link I remember Todd when he was just a noob big goofy kid in the 80Âs with two left feet and five thumbs on each hand. He rifled questions at you 10 at a time and all in one breath of air as long as youÂd let him do it he wanted to learn so bad. I saw him every month at ULS meetings, and spent a lot of hours and days with him in tow on field trips all over Utah. Somehow we never collected other states together. Some things donÂt change (I last talked to him maybe a year and a half ago), heÂs still just a big goofy kid, but heÂs come a very long ways with Lepidoptera. His knowledge base has grown many fold, and he works tirelessly to inspire others to get involved. He is a very dedicated Lepidopterist by anybodies standards. Quick story about Todd years ago he flew to Los Angeles on a business trip, and for the return trip home he took a flight to Phoenix with a very long layover before going on to Salt Lake City. In Phoenix he rented a car, drove many hours to northern Arizona to spend something like 75 minutes looking for Limenitis arthemis arizonensis larva, then drove hours back to Phoenix just in time to make the continuation flight home to SLC. Now that is dedicated (reminds me of Âwell, me, LOL.)! People thought I was nuts because I'd often drive 700+ miles round trip in a day to get larval food plant for my larva, sometimes week after week after week until they finally pupated.

BTW, I wrote this over several sessions today in MS Word before a ccpy and paste to the forum. So I hope it makes sense.

Larry

Larry, Thank you so much for the post! I love the idea of the paper towel wrapped around the plant stem--so easy!

When it's possible, I'd love (and I bet Elisabeth would too) to hear about how you were able to keep alive the larvae that overwinter as early instars. No rush. I tried to keep Chlosyne harrisii (Harris' Checkerspots) alive one winter--didn't work; they dessicated. I only took a few from the larger colony, so I wouldn't eradicate the population in my meadow.

Thank you again so much Larry!

Bernergrrl,

I've been having a pretty good week, so I've been working on an answer for you all morning in spurts, and will get it done later today or tonight.

An intelligent question deserves an intelligent answer, but to be a useful answer for you, Elizabeth or others this one can't just be a short reply. It takes me a lot longer on the computer now days is all. LOL That's OK though, I want to help you all discover another fun and beneficial facet for rearing leps. It's up to budding lepidopterists' like you to carry on where I left off.

Larry

Thanks Larry! I have mattoon's (sp?) paper describing raising them but I think I will hold off on fritillaries for a while. With two kids at home, it is all I can do to keep the easier species alive. I am still hoping to try mourning cloaks. I had a gravid female this spring and was hoping to set her up to lay. Unfortunately, my hubby left the garage door open and I didn't secure the mesh top on her enclosure enough and she got away. That was a disappointment as I usually only see males. I know from previous posts of yours and others that these are easy to raise. Luckily this year is turning out to be good with many other species.
-Elisabeth

Bernergrrl,

As you learned with your attempt to over-winter (OW) early instar Chlosyne harrisii, it is all about moisture (so they do not desiccate) and disease. 3rd instar lava are normally a lot easier to OW than 1st instar because they are not quite as susceptible to desiccation by having more mass and so more moisture reserves. So they would be a better choice to learn to OW with than 1st instar species. With either the trick is how to provide and regulate enough moisture for them without loosing the brood to mold or mildew or fungus (MMF).

Up front you need to realize that taking this on with Speyeria larvae is a very long and labor intensive task, so I suggest not starting it unless you are willing to see through what can be as long as 10+ months just for the larval stage of a single brood.

The basic concept of our technique was not new. Variations of it had been used with various types of supplies and equipment with various success rates before by many Lepidopterists. We wanted something more reliable, so a few of us at ULS set out to find it.

For the Speyeria 1st instar larva we settled on using wood blocks for our OW chambers. I chose to make mine from dried raw wood (mostly pine). The raw wood was gathered in the forest so it wasnt treated with any preservatives like lumber yard wood all is. At first I used blocks I cut to from ¾" to 2.5" square with various sized holes drilled through them. But I soon settled on 1.5" blocks with .5" holes for 1st instar and 2" blocks with ¾" holes for 3rd instar so I could get them all on the same service schedule (more on that later). Larger blocks with larger holes dry out a little faster, but 3rd instar larva dont need as much humidity as 1st instar larva do. The two sizes seemed to work best for me for balancing moisture transfer needed for each larval instar stage while holding off MMF, and with the same bi monthly service. IOW, I did a lot of trial and error at first, made assumptions from the results of them to get to this standard that worked for me.

When the Speyeria larvae emerge they will eat their egg cases before settling down for the long haul. But if given the chance they usually will also suck up some water, and that is a huge push in the right direction for their survival. It will actually plump them up as if they had been eating (which they dont do at this stage). So keep the immediate vicinity of the ovum lightly sprayed (small beads of water if in a glass/plastic container) so when they hatch there is water there for the larva if they want it. After that they will want to find a place to hide, spin a pad and start their long summer and winter aestivation. So you need to have all your supplies ready to go for larval transfer to them ahead of their hatching.

In use the blocks are initially soaked in water and then allowed to drain very well, then kept in a shallow covered (not air tight) container on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator to keep them damp with a light weekly spraying. I used the 9" X 12" size plastic cake type containers that had lids that were not air tight (not Tupperware) for my blocks because they stacked well. Bigger containers was better for me since I usually OW many hundreds of each species of larva (and ovum and even some imagos), but smaller containers will work just as well for a single brood as long as its not air tight. When your larva are ready to OW, lightly spray one of your prepared blocks, loosely plug one side of a block with a cotton ball you have soaked and then squeezed out, put some larva in (do not over crowd them) and loosely plug the other end with another damp cotton ball. Return it to the "cake" pan resting so the "holes" are on sides (not top or bottom) and then back in the refrigerator.

The blocks will dry out in the refrigerator, so the moisture will have to be replaced during the entire aestivation cycle. On a set schedule is best and is determined as you learn what your particular set up needs. You want the micro habitat you are creating to stay damp, yet not so wet that it allows the MMF to get unruly or take over. This means constant checking until you figure out what your setups routine wants to be. I found that by doing what was needed to get all of mine on a bimonthly schedule worked the best for me. A one week schedule could also work, but I wouldnt let them go more than 2 weeks without inspecting them for moisture and MMF. Missing even a single service could mean weakened larva and a couple missed meant deaths. Keep a schedule hanging on the refrigerator door so you dont forget and can see at a glance when, and check it off after done each cycle. You can manipulate things some to get on a schedule by regulating how much water you spray on the blocks. If they continually dry out in less than either your 1 or 2 week schedule, add a paper towel on the bottom of your container that you can spray extra water on. This is more likely to cause a problem with MMF though, so dont get too slap happy with the water and keep an eye on it. Maybe it will take 2 paper towels, or 3. Every set up will be different, so you will have to figure yours out.

During the months keep a close watch for MMF on the outside of the blocks, and dont forget to check the bottom of the blocks too. When it appears, and it will, carefully pull a cotton swab enough to check for MMF on the inside where the larva are. A little on the outside is normal after some time, but what you want is to move the larvae to a new previously prepared block before it gets inside with them. They will probably be bunched together on a silk pad they spun, so you might have to use small pointed long tweezers to pull the silk pad loose, move most of them at once and just pick up the stragglers with a brush. Use a soft artists brush as 1st instar larva are very easy to injure,

If you get them to the next season and when you have enough host plant to sustain them, give the blocks one last spray, partially remove the cotton balls on both ends to allow escape and set the blocks near the food plants. As they warm up and the moisture dries the larva will find their way out and find the plant. Keep an eye on them though and if they are being stubborn about leaving the blocks continue to give the blocks a light spray until all larva that are alive have left it. If left longer than that the larva may try to use to block to hide in. A little paper toweling loosely wound around the base of the host plant is better for that.

Even with a very well monitored and perfect set up there will be some that dont survive, just like what happens often in nature. Thats one of the reasons why a pair produces so many eggs, so at least some of them survive. So dont let that stop you from trying the over-wintering, and if you do dont fret over the lost larva. Instead rival at your success in getting some of them though.

FWIW, many of the species that have larva that aestivate do so as 3rd instar, and they are quite easy, so they do not have to be put in wood blocks and can just be keep on damp toweling in your refrigerator containers. Generally they have to be serviced more often that way though, so you may want to use the blocks when you can. I used the above wood block technique mostly for Speyeria, a few other species that OW as 1st instar and it also works well to OW the ovum of some species.

Hope all of this makes sense. Kind of hard to keep your thoughts focused when written over several session. Should be enough though to get you started, and so that any further questions would be simple and only need simple, short answers.

Elizabeth,

Yep, N. antiopa is probably about the easiest of all lepidoptera to rear. They are an excellent choice to start noobs with because of that and because they are so easy to find livestock of.

Good luck ladies,

Larry

Larry, This information is so exciting to have. Thank you for all of the thorough, clear, and precise step by step directions! I feel bad to have put you through it, but I will keep this information and use it this winter. I will try it with Chlosyne harrisii and if I see a Speyeria Cybele or S.aphrodite if I see any laying eggs.

In what kind of containers and how did you keep the eggs/hatchlings?

Then, when you transfer your hatchlings to the wood blocks, are they on the original leaves? Or is there another material that you gave them to have a place to hide?

Thanks again Larry!

Larry,

When I read your postings about your experiences, I am totally in awe as to the work lepidopterists do to support/raise species. Some complex issues and some well-thought out solutions. Thanks for sharing. Think I will leave the raising of Speyeria to BG.

BG, Good luck. I foresee some fascinating adventures ahead for you. Wish I was younger.

Sandy

bernergrrl,

Sorry, I'm not sure my feeble brain completely understands your questions. I'll attempt them with some additional information, but if I miss what you want to know please LMK and I'll try again.

While finding wild ovum is not impossible, it also is not a way to get livestock in any kind of numbers. And it is all about getting the numbers because the OW will be so labor intensive. Speyeria females seldom go to the trouble to lay the single laid eggs right on a plant, and often lay them up to a yard away on whatever is handy (including dirt). It's up to the 1st instar larva to find a plant the following season when they come out of aestivation. When some species get around to laying eggs, the plants have already died back to where even finding the plant remnants down in the wild grasses, etc is a chore. Finding wild 1st instar larva is just as hard if not harder because they go into hiding so soon after they hatch.

If you mean catching a gravid female for eggs, set up a very small egg laying cage that you can "stimulate" laying in. That's another long to write technique for another day though.

"In what kind of containers and how did you keep the eggs/hatchlings?"

If you mean while out collecting, I carried several sizes of small plastic containers with attached snap lids I use to temporarily hold ovum or small livestock collected in. I modified them with windows in the lids covered with small pieces of plastic screen hot melted on so they had air circulation while stuffed in a pocket or butt pack and not over heat. Back at the vehicle they went in ice chests, and when home the livestock is transfered to 4" square clear hard plastic boxes that have a non air tight lid and placed on a square cut from paper towel that I can lightly spray to keep humidity right. If 1st instar they are not fed. If 3rd instar they can be fed and the clear box allows watching for them to start wandering, a sign they are ready to go into the wooden blocks.

Whether its ovum or early instar larva you transfer to the wood blocks, you want absolutly nothing in there with them other than if you have to move a silk pad with the larva. Leaf or any other kind of material will just promote the faster growth of MMF. They are contently hiding just fine by just being in the block with the cotton ball "doors" closed.

Sandy,

Some would call it stricken, some obsessed and some certifiable. I even had some Polynesians call me hehena. LOL Me, I called it being a dedicated lepidopterist.

Larry

Larry, Your brain is SO not feeble--your posts and descriptions of your methods illustrate the contrary.

The wording of my question was awkward and incomplete, but you answered it perfectly!

Thank you again! :)

Glad the rambling got them covered good'nough for you girl.

Whether feeble or just a broken thought I missed an important point above in the long, semi detailed OW technique post. Sorry about that, but I'll add it here isnce you can't go back to edit posts.

You'll want to mark the outside of the blocks (using a permanent marker) with any pertinent data... ie, species, quantity counts, dates, maybe location collected, etc; or with an assigned lot/batch/brood number if you would rather keep it all in a log under that same number. I used the later as I could keep detailed notes and dates in the log that when later anaylized was a great learning tool that helped me draw my conclusions. Those conclusions were also added to the log for future reference.

Larry

Thank you for the tips on organizing the data. All of this will come in handy!

Both frits eclosed successfully. My neighbor released one because I was out of town, but the second one waited until today, so I was able to see it and get some pics.

{{gwi:471102}}

{{gwi:471103}}

{{gwi:471104}}

Just beautiful!
The golden coloring is special and so gorgeous!
Congrats, bernergrrl!
Sherry

Congrats on the successful eclosing of your GSFs. The pictures are beautiful.

Sandy

I still get GSF butterflies but have to find any cats :(