{"id":87,"date":"2012-06-07T01:44:49","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T01:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=87"},"modified":"2012-06-10T17:52:26","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T17:52:26","slug":"a-magnificent-moth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=87","title":{"rendered":"A Magnificent Moth"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Barb Elliot<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When I was a ten year old kid I \u201csaved\u201d a Polyphemus moth my father had almost accidentally killed while pruning our hedge.\u00a0 Actually, I didn\u2019t save it\u2014in truth, quite the opposite.\u00a0 I captured it and put it into a collecting jar.\u00a0 After it died I mounted and framed it.\u00a0 Enamored with butterflies and moths, I then hung it in my bedroom along with the rest of my collection. Over the years I have displayed this beautiful, six-inch moth in my various homes.\u00a0 However, I never saw one in the wild again until this spring \u2013 more than 50 years later.<\/p>\n

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Male Polyphemus Moth (Dan Mackinnon @ fcps.edu)<\/p><\/div>\n

On May 20th, a spectacular male Polyphemus moth just like that first one emerged from a cocoon in my yard.\u00a0 I had discovered the large cocoon hanging from a Spicebush twig in early March.\u00a0I couldn\u2019t tell what type of moth might be overwintering in the cocoon, but I checked it often, hoping to see what would emerge.<\/p>\n

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Cocoon in my yard, 3\/7\/2012<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

When the time came, I almost missed it because it hung several inches from the cocoon, which appeared to be intact except for a small hole in the top.\u00a0 As the moth hung among the leaves, only the under wings, which look like dead leaves, were visible. I would have liked to see the more striking upper sides of the wings, but did not disturb it for a better look.\u00a0\u00a0 This moth was to remain completely free — and in fact it was gone by the next day.<\/p>\n

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Newly emerged Polyphemus Moth in my yard, 5\/20\/12<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

It likely flew off that night in hot pursuit of a female, using its large, feathery antenna to detect the powerful sex hormone scents (pheromones) a female emits to attract a mate.\u00a0 Polyphemus males can detect and fly to females that are miles away.\u00a0 The moths survive for about a week, living only to mate and lay eggs. In fact, the adults don\u2019t have mouthparts and can\u2019t eat or drink.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Polyphemus caterpillar, however, is an eating machine.<\/p>\n

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Polyphemus moth late stage caterpillar (buglifecycle.com)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

In the five to six weeks it takes until it is ready to pupate and spin its cocoon, it increases its weight by more than 10,000 times and grows to three inches long and \u00be inch in diameter. The caterpillar then wraps itself in a leaf and encases itself in silk thread spun from its mouth or it may crawl down and spin its cocoon on the ground.\u00a0 A cocoon wrapped in a leaf may stay on the tree or shrub all winter as \u201cmine\u201d did, or it may fall to the ground in the autumn.\u00a0 This is an important reason not to rake up the leaves that fall under your trees and shrubs.<\/p>\n

As a result of their nocturnal habits and since so few make it to adulthood, not many of us ever get to see these beautiful creatures. Birds and mammals search out the protein-rich caterpillars, and few caterpillars escape the many parasites that prey on them.\u00a0 If you provide host plants that the caterpillars eat, you can increase your chances of seeing one and help to increase their chances of survival.\u00a0 Polyphemus moth caterpillars eat the leaves of a variety of native trees, including Oaks (Quercus), Maple (Acer), Birches (Betula), Hickories (Carya), Walnut (Juglans), Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), and\u00a0 American Elm (Ulmus americana).\u00a0 I’m not sure which of these plants \u201cmy\u201d caterpillar ate, as I have five of these species in my yard.<\/p>\n

The Polyphemus moth is in the family of large showy silk moths native to southeastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 Others species include the Cecropia (the largest moth in North America), Luna, Io, Imperial, Promethea, Tuliptree, Rosy Maple, and Royal Walnut Moth.\u00a0 These moths also eat a variety of native trees and shrubs that would make great additions to a yard.<\/p>\n

One last thing you can do to help the Polyphemus and other moths survive and reproduce successfully is to keep outdoor lights turned off as much as possible.\u00a0 Any lights at night can \u201ccapture\u201d moths, interrupt their search for mates, exhaust them, and make them easy targets for predators.<\/p>\n

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Newly emerged Polyphemus Moth with cocoon, 5\/20\/12<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

I hope you too may have the exciting experience of seeing a Polyphemus or one of the other showy silk moths in your yard!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Barb Elliot When I was a ten year old kid I \u201csaved\u201d a Polyphemus moth my father had almost accidentally killed while pruning our hedge.\u00a0 Actually, I didn\u2019t save it\u2014in truth, quite the opposite.\u00a0 I captured it and put … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,14,13,5,12,9],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}