Male Polyphemus?
Location: Spring, TX
April 3, 2012 12:52 pm
We found this gorgeous fellow when I came home for lunch today (April 3rd). Looks like a male polyphemus moth? We got several hi-res pictures of him before helping him locate a good tree to bed down in. I’d like to send all the pics to you and let you post the ones you like. A couple of samples are attached here.
Signature: Brian Legg
Hi Brian,
We agree, based on the well feathered antennae, that this Polyphemus Moth is a male. Your attached photos show both the upper wings the undersides, and they should help our readers identify Polyphemus Moths in the future. Now that spring has arrived and much of the country is experiencing warmer weather, we expect Giant Silkmoth sightings to rise rapidly.
Hi again,
This guy was so happy to pose for our cameras, we wanted to send a couple more shots of him to give an idea of the size and to show a good shot of the underside of his wings. Thanks for the quick confirmation on my original submission and keep up the great work! We love the site!
Signature: Brian Legg
Update: July 11, 2014
In researching a posting of a Polyphemus Moth from Colorado today, we realized that this individual is most likely the Western Polyphemus Moth, Antheraea oculea, which was recently declared a distinct species and has much darker coloration around the ocelli. According to BugGuide is found from “Arizona to western Texas.”
I think I might have one of these little creatures. Mine looks a lot like this, but his body is red and white striped going around his body, not horizontally. I am sad to say that my cats got a hold of him before I was able to rescue him. I kept him out of harm’s way as best I could, but I could not let him go back outside on his own. I notice that he quivers his wings. I wonder if that is a way to call the females to mate with him. I learned that their adult life is only four days and during that time they do not eat. I matched him with other pix on the internet and he was called a Giant Silk Moth. I live in Oregon and I have never seen such a creature. He is a beauty; I hope they are not going extinct as suggested here.
We suspect you encountered a Ceanothus Silkmoth.