Cecropia Moth

Hyalophora cecropia is the largest moth native to North America (wingspan 13-18 cm) and one of the most spectacular giant silk moths (family Saturniidae) of the temperate world. The species is found across the eastern and central US, southern Canada, and the eastern Great Plains. Adult wings are reddish-brown with characteristic white crescent-moon marks on each wing, plus a small eyespot at each forewing tip; the body is bright red-orange with bands of white. Like all giant silk moths, the cecropia adult has no functional mouthparts and lives 1-2 weeks entirely on energy stored as caterpillar fat — finding a mate is the species' only adult task. Males detect female pheromones from up to 2 km using massive feathered antennae. The caterpillar is one of the most spectacular insect larvae in the world: at full size (10 cm), the body is bright apple-green and carries 4 dorsal rows of brilliant yellow, blue, and orange tubercles, each tipped with small black bristles. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of maple, birch, willow, cherry, and many other deciduous trees. Cocoons are large (8 cm), tough, silk-and-leaf, and overwinter attached to twigs. The species is increasingly rare in some parts of the eastern US due to predation by Compsilura concinnata — a parasitoid tachinid fly introduced for gypsy moth control in 1906 that has devastated native saturniid populations.