Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar

[ysabetwordsmith]

I found a giant silk moth caterpillar crawling around a can on the patio. I love Saturniid moths. They get huge, and many look spectacular. Even their caterpillars are big and interesting. This one is about the size of my pinky finger, so it's probably a middle instar and still has a lot of growing to do. I'm really excited to see one of these guys. I expect the birds will be excited too -- these are the Polish sausages of the caterpillar pantry.


I am pretty sure this is a polyphemus moth caterpillar. At first I thought cecropia, because that's what we usually get here, but the knobs are way too small. It lacks the side stripe and dark hind end of a luna, although I have seen luna moths a couple of times here.




This is the typical position with the humped back.




The rear view showed a brown X.




Here I have placed the caterpillar on a maple branch, silhouetted against the sky.




I turned on the flash to show the colors one last time.




For reference, Fieldhaven is about a 2-acre rural lot in central Illinois. Below are some giant silkmoth larval food plants that I have growing in my yard. (These trees also attract lots of birds, squirrels, and other wildlife.) In order to attract the moths, you really need to grow the larval food plants, because that's what they search for. Adults do not eat anything, surviving on stored fat from the larval stage for the few days or weeks it takes them to find a mate and reproduce.

Cecropia: lilac, apple, ash, cherry, dogwood, elm, gooseberry, maple, plum, white oak.

Polyphemus: oak, grape, hickory, maple.

Promethea: wild cherry, apple, ash, basswood, lilac, maple.

Luna: black walnut, persimmon, hickory.