Silkmoths and more: Eacles oslari

Hey, ain't you supposed to use oaks for rearing Eacles oslari? Sure, you could do that and for most of you that will work perfectly. However, when your oaks are as sick looking as mine, then you need to use an alternative. Prunus serotina is one of those alternatives. Works even better then oaks. Keep the animals warm and dry. You can use spacious plastic containers as long as there are large enough holes to allow for a good air exchange and to avoid any condensation. Most of the caterpillars are extremely fast growing and are already full fed after four weeks (five for the slower growers). When they start searching for a place to pupate (you can't miss when it's time), move them to small individual containers lined with paper towels and place somewhere dark. Open every day for the first few days and put clean towels in when necessary. You'll see they make quite the mess, but that's absolutely normal. It stops after a few days and then you can leave them alone. A few days later they have pupated. Keep the pupae in a cool, unheated (but frost free) room. The moths emerge next spring.