Family Saturniidae
rss mating Luna Moths
Hello again! I saw these beauties outside today, in Nottingham, Pa. I have seen many lunas over the years, and even found an egg case, but never have seen 2 mating. I hope this means more moths for me in near future. Enjoy,
Lee Weber
Hi Lee,
Thanks so much for sending the most romantic photo we have seen in a long time.
butterfly, moth, what is it?
Hello,
Last night we had a visitor on the porch and this morning two. I have been trying to figure out what they are all day so I can share with my 9 year old daughter who is very curious about them. We have figured out that they are male and female. Could you tell me what they are and a bit about them please? Thank you,
Kelli
Hi Kelli,
These are mating Polyphemus Moths. The male is the one on the left with the large feathery antennae, the better to sense his mate’s pheromones. The female is the one on the right with the bulkier body, the better to lay 100s of eggs. The Polyphemus Moth has a large pair of “eyespots” on the underwings to startle birds into thinking they are a threatening creature. The Polyphemus Moth was named for the legendary cyclops Polyphemus, a one eyed giant, in Homer’s Odyssey.
Luna Moth???
could you tell me what this is ? seen one flying around and thought it might be the same kind as my cocoon. Hey I found this cocoon the other week and beleive it is a luna moth after visiting your website. It did have a little whole in the cocoon , so i decided to open it a little and see if the bugger was still alive , Sure he was . moves around once in abit. The reason i am e-mailing you is because one of the moths on your site was found on oHio , which you had mentioned was pretty far north. Well i live in the Northern Panhandle of idaho , about 5 miles from canada and in 24 years of living here , i have never found something like this. How long do they usually take to hatch ? going on two weeks now , but its been very cool outside and even inside. any info wold be greatly appreciated . Thank you
This is a Ceanothus Silk Moth, probably the same as your cocoon.
Time for Luna Moths in Muskoka
Found this Luna Moth today (June 6) hanging from a hosta leaf in our garden under a white birch tree. The discarded cocoon was a few inches away from the stem of the hosta. Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada Bye now,
Barbara Taylor
Hi Barbara,
We have gotten many nice Luna Moth photos since our last posting on May 16, but we have been holding out for a northern sighting. Your Canadian specimen is our northernmost siting thusfar this year. Your lady looks to be full of eggs and we hope she has an opportunity to mate.
Moth found at Fort Campbell TN
can you tell me what kind of moth this is?
Denise
hi Denise,
This is a Royal Walnut Moth or Regal Moth whose caterpillar is the striking looking Hickory Horned Devil.
Unknown Underwing Moth in New Mexico
Hey Bugman!
This amazingly colored underwing moth showed up tonight outside my house directly beneath my porchlight (where millions of other undesirable moths tend to gather). I have never seen anything quite like it before, and absolutely had to know what type of moth it is. The moth also had strange and rather large for its size orange fuzzy antennas (which the close up depicts). Its eyes, or what I deemed to be the eyes, were also quite small. Also I live in central New Mexico and was wondering what other species of moth I might hope to encounter on my porch on some future evening. Anyway, here are a few pictures of both pairs of its wings fully exposed.
Carl
Hi Carl,
What a gorgeous specimen. This is a Zephyr Eyed Silkmoth, Automeris zephyria, that we identified on the Butterflies and Moths of North America website. That website indicates the limitations of the range of this species as being: “Habitat: Pinyon-juniper woodland and conifer forest above 4800 feet elevation. Range: Mountains of central New Mexico south into the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas. ” Thank you ever so much for contributing a new species to our site.
a large moth
While we were visiting our son’s cottage at Pine Lake, Alberta, Canada, we found this specimen "stuck" to a doorscreen. Since it sat there for the longest time we assumed it was emerging from it’s cocoon. However, this may not be the case at all! It is not exactly like any of the images on your Web site so we would appreciate it very much if you could give a name to this lovely exotic creature. It’s wingspan was approx. 5". A friend suggested it was a Giant Silk Moth. Thanks,
Angela
Hi Angela,
Your moth is a Columbia Silk Moth, Hyalophora columbia, one of the Giant Silk Moths. We have numerous images of them on our Saturnid or Giant Silk Moth pages.
Ed. Note: (05/24/2008) It took us a bit of coaxing to get information from Selwyn, so we are posting this letter two days after it originally arrived.
(05/22/2008) HI
HI Please tell me what kind of moth this is many thanks
Selwyn
where was it photographed?
Plettenberg Bay
And where is Plettenberg Bay?
Ahaa you are not in South Africa. Sorry I took that for granted. Plettenberg bay is in South Africa
Thanks for that information Selwyn,
We scoured Kirby Wolfe’s excellent website to no avail. We can tell you this is a Giant Silk Moth or Emperor Moth in the family Saturniidae. We are contacting Kirby Wolfe to see if he can provide the species.
Update: (05/25/2008) ID for the South African Saturniid
Hi,
I have contacted you before. Regarding that Saturniid from Plettenberg Bay, South Africa it appears to be Heniocha apollonia.
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for this valuable information. We managed to locate one website with two images of mounted specimens of Heniocha apollonia online, and it appears you are correct. Thanks again and have a wonderful day.
Update: (05/26/2008)
Hi Daniel,
The moth is Heniocha apollonia, the Southern Marbled Emperor, my favorite African moth. The one time I had eggs, the resulting larvae died for unknown reasons.
Kirby
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