silkworm moth ova care

[Elytra and Antenna]

This question can probably only be answered by someone who has kept silkworm (Bombyx mori) moths for at least two generations.
What is the method for keeping ova in the refrigerator and incubating so that they do not dry out but also don't die from too much moisture? What container, ventilation, wet paper towel or any specifics? Days to hatch after removal from fridge?

 

[bugmankeith]

Put the eggs in a plastic container (with air holes) in the fridge for 3 or 4 months. Take them out, and after 1-2 weeks at most they should all hatch, some may hatch in 4 or 5 days though.

You could make the female lay eggs on a paper towel, but they eggs can just be stored loose, not water needed.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

That's what I did but they all dried up. Any better info?

 

[bugmankeith]

Are you postitive they dried up, mabye they needed more time to hatch? What color were they? If they were blackish-gray, they were fertile, if they were yellow, they were infertile.

 

[Gigas]

hello, i used to keep silk worms when i was young, it was a friggin fad thing at my school. i kept them in Cardboard boxes and they never saw a drop of water in their lives, bearing in mind i was also living in southern africa at the time, pretty warm. what i did was got some babies, grew em up in a big box, fed on Mulberry leaves, when they all pupated i removed all the leaves in preperation for the moths, when they hatched i took out a select few of the best looking ones and put them in a shoe box, they layed eggs EVERYWHERE and those went onto being the coolest moths which i kept for myself, and if i felt like it i would keep the eggs in the big box and sell them on the next year, otherwise i burnt the box and then when the eggs hatched i put the small shoe box in a new big box and hay presto.
no water ever .
The eggs start off plump and yellow and shrivel up to small flat grey/black things they still always hatched. i kept moths for many generations upto the age of 10 when they lost all appeal
I also never refrigerated them, the room where they were kept was pretty much 15-30+ degrees C variation througout the year.

 

[bugmankeith]

That's what I was saying when they turn grayish color and shrivel they did not dry out, that is a sign they are fertile.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I'm very familiar with moth eggs though I normally keep the various native giant silk months that overwinter as cocoons. The silkworm eggs are quite fertile and quite dead.

 

[Gigas]

are you sure mantid?
the texture of a fertile egg will be shrivelled with a grainy texture and a small indent in the middle,very much unlike most moth eggs. do you have any pictures?