Doug Tallamy is an entomologist and his book Brining Nature Home shows the relationship between native species in plants and animals. His work shows that moth and butterfly caterpillars live on very specific plants. Some trees support hundreds of varieties. Foreign trees imported from other places support few to none.
Chinese Moon Moth caterpillars normally live in the mountainous cloud forests in Southern Cina around 1000 m - 3000 m, They eat Pinus massoniana. A good replacement is Pinus sylvestris. This Chinese Moon Moth is being raised here in Toronto at Brian's place. You can see the gold highlights on the body mimicking pine needles, along with the hairs and polka dot markings.
The care of these caterpillars is considered difficult. The full instructions are here at breedingbutterflies.com - you can see pictures of the moths. This species is considered to be one of the most beautiful species of moon moths.
Here in Ontario, there's a market for monarch butterflies for release at special events such as weddings, graduation, memorials, etc. One can buy a dozen Painted Lady Butterflies on sale right now for $84.99. Take a look at what's available HERE. One can buy Monarch butterfly raising kits from them. Alternately, we can plant our native Milkweed Asclepias syrica - and they will come naturally.
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