Exception to the Rule

As with every rule there is always an exception. Here I post a picture of a recently shed L3 larvae, uninterestingly named "Larvae G", which since early L2 has been reared on an artificial diet. I also have an additional larvae "Larvae H" (also L3), which was transferred onto the diet the day after it's prior ecdysis. Both larvae appear very healthy and are eating well. Growth of the larvae appears to be slightly slower than those reared via conventional methods, but as these initial results would suggest, all is fine. I will continue to rear both of these larvae on the diet and aim to produce the first EVER Apatura adults reared via this method. Previous efforts had successfully reared Sasakia charonda via a similar method (Kunitomo 2002), although my Apatura larvae did not appear to be interested in eating the media composed of the equivalent dietary components. Hopefully another first on route.


Mark