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Polyphemus Moth ( Cocoon )
Antheraea polyphemus
30.6414, -88.2319
Field Notes
Description:
My brother, went to Pennsylvania, to visit some of his relatives. Each day, he would go into the woods, and look for Moth Cocoons and Butterfly Pupae, to take back home with him. On one occasion, he went into the woods, and he found, three, Polyphemus Moth Cocoons. He will take these three Moth Cocoons, back to Florida with him. One Moth Cocoon, was one and one half of an inch long, and three fourths of an inch wide. Average wingspan: 10 to 15 cm. Light brown eggs. The caterpillar, molts 5 times. Some of there food plants: willow, oak, maple, hickory, beech, honey locust, walnut, and American elm. They spin cocoons of brown silk, usually wrapped in leaves of the host plant. The adults, do not eat. Males, have very bushy antennae. Males have plumose antennae.
Habitat:
They are found from southern Canada, down into Mexico, and in all 48 states, except for Arizona and Nevada.
Notes:
Polyphemus antennae, are quadripectinate ( comb-like on four sides ). The singled layered Cocoon, is thicker and more elliptical, than the Cocoon, of the Luna Moth. The adults, are strongly attracted to light.
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