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Giant Silk MothsMoth
I see you have this moth on your site. But this ones markings are a little different. We live in the Blue Ridge area of the Coconino National Forest of Northern Arizona. 50 miles north of Payson, Arizona. 6800 feet altitude.
Lynda Perkins
Hi Linda,
This is exciting news for us. According to a site we found, Antheraea oculea was declared a separate species in the 1990s. Here is what the site maintained by Hunter and Joel has to say: “Until the early nineties, oculea was considered a subspecies of polyphemus. Based on the hybridization work of Tuttle, Tuskes and Collins (see “The Wild Silk Moths of North America”) oculea was raised from subspecific to specific status. This moth occurs in Arizona and western New Mexico. At first glance, oculea looks just like a polyphemus, except darker, and with more ‘makeup’ around the eyespots.” The Butterflies and Moths of North America has a map of species distribution. BugGuide has a single photo of a mounted specimen. We are going to copy Bill Oehlke on this as he is compiling extensive species distribution information and this sighting may be of interest to him.
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(07/19/2009)Oculea Moth -
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(09/05/2011)Polyphemus Moth or Oculea Silkmoth???
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