Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Cecropia Moths Are Night-time Beauties
By: Tom Berg
Most moths look very drab and boring. Many species have gray or tan wings with little or no other coloration. But not all of these night-time flyers are lackluster; some are actually quite colorful and beautiful. One of the most spectacular moths in North America is the large and colorful cecropia moth.
Cecropia moths are silk moths. Actually, the cecropia is North America’s largest native moth, often having a wingspan of six or seven inches. Their wings are multi-colored, with varying hues of red, white, brown, orange, tan, black and even blue. Their bodies are thick and covered with furry-looking red and white hair. Males and females of the species can be identified by their antennae; males have large feathery antennae while females have much smaller, thinner antennae.
The adult cecropia moth emerges from its cocoon in the early summer and starts looking for a mate. Males use their large antennae to detect and locate the pheromones emitted by a female, and they can detect a female from more than a mile away. Cecropia moths do not eat at all; only the caterpillars eat before they transform into moths during metamorphosis. The adult moths live a very short life, just long enough to find a mate and reproduce. Within two weeks of metamorphosis, their lifespan is usually over.
The eggs laid by the female cecropia moth hatch into caterpillars, and the small caterpillars eat as much as they can during the short summer. They are black when they first hatch, but as they grow they change color from black to yellow to green. Cecropia moth caterpillars are usually found on the leaves of maple trees, but they are also found on cherry trees and other deciduous trees.
By autumn, the cecropia caterpillars have grown to full size (about five inches long) and they create a silk cocoon on an inconspicuous tree branch. They will spend the entire winter in this cocoon. Then the following spring the adult moth emerges from the cocoon and the cycle repeats itself. Keep an eye out for these beauties this summer!
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