Caligula cachara
On 19/02/2025 I ordered eggs of this silk moth from Luis via actias.de
The eggs arrived in the post surprisingly quickly.
I gave about 20 of them to a friend (Charley) as I believe it reduces the risk of failure if more than one of us looks after them.
Around a week or so later the eggs began to hatch. I told Charley and hers had not hatched yet, but the first of hers did so, the following day.
I offered mine sprigs of privet, both old leaves and new growth. After the first day I noticed them gathered together on the lid of the plastic container. There was no sign of the leaves being nibbled, nor were there any droppings.
I know that some species take a day or so to settle down and start to eat, so I was not overly concerned, but I did find some fresh hawthorn (the leaves are only just appearing - and even then only on a few sheltered hawthorn hedges) and I added these leaves in with the privet so they could choose.
The next morning I found most of the larvae on the hawthorn and there were signs of nibbled hawthorn leaves.
On 10 March 2025 the larvae were looking healthy and it looked like some, if not all, had changed their skins.
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