INTERNATIONAL ASSOCI ATION OF BUTTERFLY EXHIBITORS AND SUPPL IERS Volume 16 Number 3 MAI– JUNE 2017 Visit us on the web at www.iabes.org Special edition: moths Interview with Bart Coppens, guest speaker at ICBES 2017 Who are you? I’m Bart Coppens (24) from the Netherlands – a fervent breeder of moths and aspiring entomologist. In my home I breed over 50 species of moths (mainly Saturniidae) on yearly basis. My goal is to expand what started out as a hobby into something more scientific. It turns out the life cycle and biology of many Saturni- idae is poorly known or even unrecorded. By importing eggs and cocoons of rare and obscure species and breeding them in cap- tivity I am able to record undescribed larvae, host plants and the life history of several moth species – information that I publish on a scientific level. My ambition is also to gradually get into more difficult subjects such as the taxonomy, morphology and evolution and perhaps even the organic chemistry (in terms of defensive chemicals) of Saturniidae – but for now these subjects are still beyond my le- Bart with Graellsia isabella vel of comprehension, as relatively young person that has not yet completed a formal education. I’d also like to say I have a general passion for all kinds of Lepidoptera, from butterflies to the tiniest species of moths, I truly like all of them. The reason I mention Saturniidae so much is because I have invested most of my time and expertise into this particular family of Lepidoptera, simply because this order of insects is too big to study on a general scale, so I decided to specialise myself a little in the kinds of moths I find the most impressi- ve and fascinating myself – and was already the most familiar with due to my breeding hobby. I also supplement my breeding hobby with many projects I do with my live- stock, such as setting up biology courses that teach about the biology and Inside this issue: ecology of Lepidoptera, visiting schools and showing the students my insects, writing scientific publica- Portrait of moth breeder 1-4 tions, making a lot of pic- Bart Coppens tures and submitting them to online databases, crea- Moths on the global mar- 5 ting websites about them ket and more. I also have a high profile Argema mittrei by 6-9 on social media and run a Louwerens-Jan Nederlof small but succesful You- Tube channel dedicated to Images of the month: Atta- 10 my breeding of moths in cus caesar captivity. IABES conference 2017 in 11 the Netherlands Flagship members / 12-13 advertisers Caterpillar of Copaxa cydippe VOLUME 16 NUMBER 3 Bart Coppens cont. When did you start breeding butterflies and moths? Even as a young child I used to collect every caterpillar I could find, rear them in boxes, and release the adult butterflies and moths into the wild. This made me familiar with some common species like Pieris brassicae that was common on the cabbage in our garden, Noctua pronuba, Aglais io, Vanessa atalanta, Vanessa cardui and more. Then I became a teenager and interestingly, my passion for butterflies and moths turned into a fascination for breeding praying mantids! (Mantodea). From ages 13-17 I kept many species of praying mantids and also stick insects. I actually forgot all about my passion for butterflies and moths, I didn’t even know it was possible to breed them as a hobby at that time. That was until I was 17 years old and my father ordered some atlas moth cocoons for me (Attacus atlas) online as a gift. When they hatched I was so impressed by them that I stopped breeding all my other kinds of insects and committed myself to breeding moths only. From that age and beyond I learned to buy them online myself, and well.. that is probably the point where it turned into the kind of bree- ding I currently do, since then the numbers have only increased each year. Can you list the moth species you have bred ? Here is a list of the moths I have at least reared from egg to adult OR obtained as adults from cocoons since the last three years : Saturniidae: Callosamia promethea Opodiphthera eucalypti Parasemia plantaginis Actias dubernardi Ceranchia apollina Opodiphthera helena Actias heterogyna Cirina forda Paradirphia rosacea Sphingidae: Actias isis Citheronia azteca Periphoba rosacea Acherontia atropos Actias luna Citheronia bellavista Perisomena caecigena Callambulyx tatarovini Actias maenas Citheronia laocoon Pseudantheraea discrepans Deilephila elpenor Actias niedhoeferi Citheronia regalis Rothschila jacobaeae Hippotion celerio Actias ningpoana Citheronia splendens Rothschildia cincta Hyles euphorbiae Actias selene Copaxa cydippe Rothschildia lebeau Langia zenzeroides Actias sinensis Copaxa lavender Rothschildia oriziba Manduca sexta Actias luna x selene (hybrid) Copaxa sophronia Rothschildia roxana Mimas tiliae Agapema homogena Cricula elizae Rothschildia sandimasiana Phyllosphingia dissimilis Aglia tau Cricula trifenestrata Samia cynthia Proserpinus proserpina Antheraea formosana Dirphia avia Saturnia cephalariae Proserpinus vega Antheraea montemzuma Dirphia centralis Saturnia pavonia Smerinthus cerisyi Antheraea oculea Eacles imperialis Saturnia pavoniella Smerinthus ocellata Antheraea pernyi Epiphora bauhiniae Saturnia pyretorum Sphingonaepiopsis kuldjaensis Antheraea polyphemus Epiphora intermedia Saturnia pyri Sphinx kalmiae Antherina suraka Epiphora mythimnia Saturnia spini Sphinx ligustri Argema mimosae Gonimbrasia krucki Saturnia walterorum Theretra japonica Attacus atlas Gonimbrasia zambesina Syssphinx molina Lasiocampidae: Attacus caesar Graellsia isabellae Usta angulata Dendrolimnus pini Attacus erebus Heniocha apollonia Dendrolimnus spectabilis Automeris cecrops Heniocha dyops Brahmaeidae: Gastropacha quercifolia Automeris excreta Hyalophora cecropia Acanthobrahmaea europaea Gonometa nysa Automeris io Hyperchiria azteca Brahmaea wallichi Schausinna clementsi Automeris stacieae Hyperchiria incisa Brahmaea japonica Trabala pallida Automeris zephyria Imbrasia obscura Brahmaea tancrei Trabala vishnou Automeris frankae Lemaireodirphia albida Brahmaea hearseyi Automeris tridens Leucanella fusca Erebidae/Arctiidae: Eupterotidae: Automeris melmnon Loepa formosensis Arctia caja Palirisa cervina Automeris occidentalis Loepa oberthuri Arctia villica Bunaea alcinoe Lonomia electra Areas galactina Caligula japonica Melanocera menippa Hyphoraia aulica Caligula thibeta Neoris huttoni Lophocampa caryae PAGE 2 VOLUME 16 NUMBER 3 Bart Coppens cont. How much time do you invest for this hobby ? The breeding itself does cost quite a lot of time, but it is manageable. If we are talking about purely taking care of the livestock itself it probably adds up to 1.5 hour per day on average of collecting host plant and cleaning dirty rearing cages/boxes. This is an average because the larvae don’t need daily care, I like to give them fresh food and clean boxes every few days. In between the few days I spend many hours collecting plants and clea- ning boxes I am generally free to do what I like! The total amount of time quickly becomes more however, if you factor in the time I spend writing publications, updating my websites with caresheets, uploading YouTube videos and more. I’m always open to new projects and supplement my hobby with them ! Where does your livestock come from ? Many places, currently most of my Saturniidae eggs come from Mexico and other parts of Central or South America (I like Hemileucinae in particular) – such as Panama, Costa Rica and more. I also import livestock from places like Cameroon, Madagascar and Taiwan. I made some very good contacts over the years willing to hunt for the species I like. Do you collaborate with any butterfly exhibitors ? Currently not - I’m afraid that as hobbyist I haven’t thought about the commercial side of things yet. Do you supply moths to any exhibitors ? Currently not - I’m afraid that as hobbyist I haven’t thought about the commercial side of things yet. What do your breeding facilities look like ? I’m afraid they are not exactly professional – I’m still relatively young and also a student that still lives with his parents. That means I keep all of it in my bedroom because I don’t want to litter their house with my in- sects. Many nights have I been unable to sleep from L: Actias luna male, C: A. dubernardi female, A. dubernardi male the sound of large Saturniidae fluttering in their cages.. I hatch the eggs in petri dishes. For young larvae I use plastic rearing containers with appropriate ventilation. The older larvae I then either move unto a cut branch of food plant placed in a water bottle within a cage or I rear them outside in my garden in a rearing sleeve (well-quarantained of course). Some species I also keep in plastic boxes for their entire life but only the species that can stand the high humidity. The pupae and cocoons I move into a giant emergence cage that collectively contains all my cocoons (currently over 500 cocoons of mostly Saturniidae). This cage is for co- coons and emerging only, when moths of different species emerge I take the males and females of the same species and put them together seperately in smaller insect (pop-up)cages. This is so multiple species can’t disturb eachother. In winter I also move my cocoons of species that need to be overwintered outside in my garden shed in a well protected and iso- lated container, where they survive the cold winter. Bart with Actias isis male PAGE 3 VOLUME 16 NUMBER 3 Bart Coppens cont. Where do you get the foodplants from ? I get all of them from my local forest or garden. I live in quite the green environment. Do you have someone who can take care of your animals you when you go on holiday? No, and I think nobody in their right mind would want to take control over 60 species of Saturniidae during summer.. it is the reason I am unable to travel. It would take too much time for sombody else, and not many people are able to care for the hardest to breed and sensitive species.