It is surprisingly easy to keep moths in captivity, although a number of moths can be kept successfully, the most interesting species are silkmoths and hawkmoths, or sphinxes. Silkmoths include all those species that make a silky cocoon and they are placed together in the family Saturniidae.

This family includes moon moths, atlas moths and bullseye moths. Most species are large, brightly coloured and have prominent feathery antennae. The adults of most of these species have no functional mouthparts and do not feed. They only live for a few weeks or even a few days as adults.

Most silkmoth caterpillars, feed on readily available food plants such as cherry, oak and willow.

Once you have obtained the eggs, place them next to some leaves of the appropriate food plant. The food plant may consist of a few stems of the appropriate species standing in a small jar of water, or it may be more convenient to place a growing plant, in its pot, in the cage with the eggs.

Once the caterpillars hatch, they eat their own eggshells and then begin to crawl around looking for their food plant. Once the caterpillars start to grow, they will molt their skins every few days and their appetites will increase. When the caterpillars have molted 6 or 7 times, they will look for a suitable place to pupate.

Usually they pupate among the leaves of the food plant, making a pupae surrounded in a cocoon of silk. Remove the pupae from the cage and place them in a plastic box.

Species such as the Indian moonmoth can be fed on rhododendron and if their pupae are kept warm they will hatch within three to four weeks.

Some species require food that is not always available, such as banana leaves or guava leaves. In this case, keep the pupae in a cool place until the following spring, when their food plant will be available.