Female Oviposition Techniques > Brown Bag
Some species of butterflies overwinter as unfed first instars or eggs. Females from these species groups which include greater fritillaries, arctics, alpines (and other satyrs), lesser fritillaries, parnassians, and some giant skippers will lay their eggs haphazardly near host plants as hatchling larvae will not initiate feeding until next spring.
That being the case, you can set up these females in brown bags with dead host and they will lay eggs either on dead host or on the bag itself facilitating the process of getting eggs. These females do not necessarily need a lot of light to trigger oviposition. For example, placing a live fritillary female with dead violets and a nectar source oftentimes works well.
That being the case, you can set up these females in brown bags with dead host and they will lay eggs either on dead host or on the bag itself facilitating the process of getting eggs. These females do not necessarily need a lot of light to trigger oviposition. For example, placing a live fritillary female with dead violets and a nectar source oftentimes works well.
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Spyeria cybele letona female
Here is a photo with the female in the sack. Inside the sack in a dried violet and a nectar source. Female fritillaries will usually lay many eggs on the sack or on the dried violet; trying to conceal the eggs near the flap of the lunch sack as much as possible.
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Brown Bag Method
Female Speyeria are content to usually lay eggs on the interior of a lunch sack if they come in contact with dead violet leaves. The life history of Speyeria is somewhat unique in that the larval hostplant is tends to be dried up by the time the adults fly. Females who oviposit look for where the plant was and lay eggs haphazardly around it. The unfed first instars then diapause until the next spring. This makes the brown bag method effective for fritillaries.
