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[ONandONandON]

so i had katydid nymphs on my cactis, just sitting there a couple weeks.. i guess eating the periskiopsis, but wasn't much to eat..
so i decided they are cute and i'd keep them in a pickle jar, they didn't seem to mind and were very happy eating bramble leaves.
been easy to keep and fun to watch, they move around so slow and elegantly, chirp a few times every now and then, at sunrise.
i built a cage and change out a fresh bramble vine about once a week.. mist with water each day for them to drink.
first image is before she gets her wings, then a few hours later and she is 3 times the size, and has big leaf wings..



Also i ordered some phyllium eggs that started hatching.. no photos of the babies yet, they look like carpenter ants.
one hatched much earlier than the others, i named her Phillipea.. picture after shed her skin, and before she eats it..

[Bach]

That's very cool OnandOn. I just found a female luna moth in my front yard. We have a big Liquidambar tree which is a larval food plant. Was just looking up moth rearing when I saw your post.

Coincidink? Maybe.

Maybe not...

[Hopfrog]

I found a female luna moth on the ground last year. She was really flimsy and broke both of her wing tails, but I put her on a hanging petunia pot on the porch of a house on a hill. She survived a run in with a gentle cat, and through it all was mating on the flower the next morning.

[ONandONandON]

  a few months ago there was 'eastern tent caterpillars' crawling everywhere,
 i kept a few in a large clear container with leaves from the tree they were falling from,
they cocooned and turned into moths, but i dont think they ever mated or layed any eggs.
same time i was also trying to raise silk worms on artificial diet, and it was a nightmare.
anyways here is some good pdfs on raising luna moths (under the resources tab)
https://www.carolina.com/moths/luna-moth-cocoons-pack-of-3/143942.pr?question=luna+moth

[ONandONandON]

update!




 'phyllium gantungense' fresh OCT.2020 (eggs 1$ each)
a newer species in cultivation, recently classified in 2009,
it's unique that they lay orange eggs, instead of brown..

[ONandONandON]

The leaf bugs are cool pets! they ask nothing but some fresh leaves each week or so.
almost sold out, so if anyone wants some eggs, it's last chance until maybe next year.

i have a couple of brown sticks in there too, but i don't think they laid any eggs.. maybe both males? not my picture...


Also a few 'metallic stick bugs' hatched, they are still so small, hoping they survive.
The males grow up to look like tiny dragons... (example adult male, not my picture)