Polyphemus MothPolyphemus Moth
This is the Polyphemus moth. Again another one of the large silkworm moths that can attain a wingspan of 6".for females and the males are slightly smaller. They consume birches, hickory, maple, oaks and members of the rose and grape families. Caterpillars form their cocoons, on food plants, where they will over winter to emerge the following May. A couple of interesting features of the wing pattern are the two small spots on the fore wing are transparent and the large eye spots on the hind wing. Could the latter be a form of mimicry? At rest this Polyphemus could appear to be something quite different and much larger, than it really is, to a potential predator. Thus avoiding being a meal. These large moths will come to UV lights and to the unprepared attendant can give the impression of a bat at first. This year our first one came to our blacklight on May 30th.
