Breeding cages

I simply leave the cage door open once the female starts calling. Most species do some fluttering around the cage before settling down to call, so I wait at least half an hour after they settle and begin calling. I'll check every hour or so and close the cage door if she has a mate or I'll close the door when I get ready to bed if no males have arrived. I don't sit around and watch for a male. I just go in the house and watch TV. If she doesn't call a mate the second night, I usually let them go on the third evening. Luna and Polyphemus stay hooked up all night and most of the following day.

My breeding area consists of four screened cages that measure a minimum of 24 inches on a side and each is mounted on a wooden frame all of which is tucked under the shade of a large American Holly and surrounded by woodlands at the rear of my property. I also have a much larger flight cage that measures 8 feet tall by 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. I use this for large potted bushes and vines depending on the species I am rearing.

Lastly, I also have a 12 inch square screened cage for transporting a female to a different local in my county in the event food plant is not common in my end of the county. I once carried a calling Callosamia promethea female to the next county where there was a good deciduous forest of available food plant to sustain a sizeable population. It was around 4 in the afternoon. I parked the truck and placed the cage on the hood of my truck and no sooner open the cage door when a male flew right in without hesitation and they hooked up. All this took less than a minute, so I closed the cage door and headed back home