Actias luna (Linnaeus)

On February 20, 2019 By Erik OstrumIn Lepidoptera, Saturniidae, UncategorizedLeave a comment

This species is probably one of the most beautiful moths found in the eastern U.S. I’ve been extremely fortunate to encounter luna moths rather regularly growing up in Wisconsin. Their large size coupled with the green coloration makes this species easily identified and admired.

This is one of the more common Saturniidae species found throughout the eastern U.S. The life cycle is similar as other giant silk moths here in the U.S. The caterpillars can be found on a wide variety of plants including birch, sweet gum, and walnuts among many others. Like other silk moths the adults do not feed and only live for a very short time.

Even though I live in Colorado now and out of range of the luna moth I still vividly remember always seeing them growing up. I currently have a handful of specimens, mostly from Wisconsin but also from Arkansas.

Other Online Sources:

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Actias-luna

https://bugguide.net/node/view/562

Antheraea polyphemus (Cramer)

On January 28, 2019January 31, 2019 By Erik OstrumIn Lepidoptera, SaturniidaeLeave a comment

This species was the most common Saturniid I encountered growing up in Wisconsin. Seeing one was always a treat as were the other species of Saturniidae. I remember on one particular fruitful blacklighting session back in 2012 we had 5 of them show up, which for Wisconsin, I consider pretty good.

This is a large species that can have a wingspan of up to 6 inches. The overall tan color is distinctive and contrast with the dark coloring surrounding the eyes on the hindwings. This is a common species found throughout the eastern U.S. and also has scattered records throughout the western states as well. The pair in the photo below were found in Colorado Springs, CO. I didn’t collect them as they were in the midst of mating.

One of the things I’ve always been amazed at is the size of the caterpillars and the life cycle which takes 1 year. The adults eclose in the spring and only live about 1 week as they don’t have mouthparts to feed. The caterpillars hatch and feed throughout the summer and early fall and then they pupate and over-winter.

I have a handful of specimens, all collected from Wisconsin.

Other online sources:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/MOTHS/polyphemus_moth.htm

https://bugguide.net/node/view/427

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Antheraea-polyphemus

Automeris io (Fabricius)

On January 11, 2019 By Erik OstrumIn Lepidoptera, SaturniidaeLeave a comment

I’ve only managed to see this species twice in my life. Once when I was young and then again in the summer of 2017 when I moved to Colorado. I was honestly quite surprised because I had no clue this species ranged into Colorado at all but as it turns out, it does.

The genus Automeris is quite speciose having around 145 species. Here in the U.S we have only 7 species with just A. io being widespread. 5 species just barely make it in the southwest and there’s one species found in the coastal salt marshes in areas of the gulf coast.

Automeris io is a member of the family Saturniidae (Giant Silk Moths) and can be found throughout the eastern U.S and into Colorado. This species is easily identified from the very conspicuous eye spot on the hind wings and quite frankly its unmistakable.

This species has a bit of range in terms of host food plants including maple, poplar, willow, and elm to name a few.

Currently in my Collection I have one specimen collected in Colorado

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