Attributes of Antheraea polyphemus
Polyphemus moth
Antheraea polyphemus (Cramer, 1776)
Family: Saturniidae
Subfamily: Saturniinae
Identification: Upperside is reddish to yellowish brown; forewing margin is usually lighter than the basal area; forewing submarginal line is pink, or black and pink. Clear oval eyespots are ringed with yellow, blue, and black; hindwing eyespot is separated from the basal area of the wing by a thin pink line. Underside has rust, brown, and pink markings.
Wing Span: 3 15/16 - 5 7/8 inches (10 - 15 cm).
Life History: Adults emerge from their cocoons in the late afternoon, and mating occurs the same day from late evening to early morning. Females lay eggs that evening, singly or in groups of 2 or 3 on leaves of the host plant. Newly-hatched caterpillars eat their eggshells, and caterpillars of all ages are solitary. Older caterpillars eat an entire leaf and then cut the leaf petiole at the base so it falls to the ground, perhaps a defensive measure to eliminate signs of feeding.
Flight: One brood in the north from May-July, two broods in the Ohio Valley and southward from April-May and from July-August, two broods in the California Sierra Nevada, several broods throughout most of the year in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana.
Caterpillar Hosts: A wide variety of trees and shrubs including oak (Quercus), willow (Salix), maple (Acer), and birch (Betula).
Adult Food: Adults do not feed.
Habitat: Deciduous hardwood forests, urban areas, orchards, and wetlands.
Range: Locally common in its broad range province except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island; in the United States, every state except Arizona and Nevada; and Mexico.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: Caterpillars can be occasional pests in California plum orchards.
Taxonomy Notes:
Images of Antheraea polyphemus
Click on an image to view full size and to see additional details.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The map below displays all verified sighting records in the BAMONA database for this species. Each record is indicated with a yellow dot. The orange dots on the map provide access to information about the 400 most recently verified sightings of this species. In some instances, there are several records at the same location. Use the table view to access these records.
Instructions: Click on the map and move your mouse to pan.
Zoom by using the plus [+] and minus [-] on the left side of the map.
To change which map layers are displayed, click on the plus sign [+] on the right side of the map.
The fifty most recently verified sightings are below. See more recently verified sightings of all species.
| Observation Date | Submitter | Region |
Verified Date |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  |
May 16, 2013 | erica32paulk | Dale County, Alabama, United States | May 17, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 16, 2013 | wreckerwife69@gmail.com | Texas, United States | May 17, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 08, 2013 | erica32paulk | Dale County, Alabama, United States | May 16, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 13, 2013 | Dean Hake | Reno County, Kansas, United States | May 16, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 12, 2013 | Bodwell76 | Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 14, 2013 | suzflee | Virginia, Virginia Beach County, United States | May 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 14, 2013 | kaylataylor | De Soto County, Mississippi, United States | May 15, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 12, 2013 | Mary22550 | Morris County, New Jersey, United States | May 14, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 14, 2013 | linoporras | Shawnee County, Kansas, United States | May 14, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 13, 2013 | bkintner | Wake County, North Carolina, United States | May 14, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 09, 2013 | Susanita79 | New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States | May 12, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 09, 2013 | mollydmoth | Grayson County, Kentucky, United States | May 10, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 02, 2013 | Sunflowermomma | Nassau County, New York, United States | May 09, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 09, 2013 | AmyBones | New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States | May 09, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 08, 2013 | kayguapa | Mendocino County, California, United States | May 09, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 08, 2013 | LaurenLindseyLove3 | Camden County, North Carolina, United States | May 08, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 03, 2013 | Becky Holmes | Harrisonburg City County, Virginia, United States | May 06, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 01, 2013 | jfhollin@hotmail.com | Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 02, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 27, 2013 | tjriley | Lapeer County, Michigan, United States | May 01, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 01, 2013 | pinacle42 | Dearborn County, Indiana, United States | May 01, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 05, 2013 | Hannibal | Orange County, California, United States | April 30, 2013 | Details |
  |
April 28, 2013 | Socalrailroader | Mendocino County, California, United States | April 30, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 28, 2013 | eal79 | Fairfax County, Virginia, United States | April 28, 2013 | Details |
  |
July 14, 2011 | matthew300 | Chautauqua County, New York, United States | April 27, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 29, 2012 | Jeremy Martin | Allegany County, New York, United States | April 27, 2013 | Details |
  |
April 19, 2013 | Mike Stinson | Buckingham County, Virginia, United States | April 20, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 17, 2013 | ChariSue | Okaloosa County, Florida, United States | April 18, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 17, 2013 | fyreseer | Madison County, Alabama, United States | April 17, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 12, 2013 | Mattwlk2 | Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States | April 11, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 05, 2013 | madifly | Howard County, Maryland, United States | April 08, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 07, 2013 | NS10PAS | Livingston County, Michigan, United States | April 08, 2013 | Details |
 |
April 07, 2013 | MelBaudoin | Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States | April 08, 2013 | Details |
 |
August 27, 2011 | Nana | Shawnee County, Kansas, United States | April 07, 2013 | Details |
  |
April 18, 2012 | amungus | Riley County, Kansas, United States | April 05, 2013 | Details |
 |
August 21, 2012 | elizabeth fountain | Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States | April 05, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 19, 2013 | KarenFiorio | Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States | April 03, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 28, 2013 | KenT. | Du Page County, Illinois, United States | April 03, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 31, 2013 | Jimmy Pryor | Falls County, Texas, United States | April 02, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 29, 2013 | aprilbh05 | Jefferson County, Tennessee, United States | March 30, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 21, 2013 | SFolk | Charleston County, South Carolina, United States | March 25, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 18, 2013 | mothtxsa | Bexar County, Texas, United States | March 24, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 22, 2013 | Reginacoldiron84 | Texas, Montgomery County, United States | March 24, 2013 | Details |
  |
February 19, 2013 | corpuschristimoth | Texas, Nueces County, United States | March 23, 2013 | Details |
 |
October 10, 2012 | EmeraldDragon | Texas, Smith County, United States | March 22, 2013 | Details |
 |
July 13, 1974 | jccooley | Rowan County, North Carolina, United States | March 20, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 20, 2013 | Trixie in Texas | Texas, United States, Van Zandt County | March 20, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 19, 2013 | ctufano | St Lucie County, Florida, United States | March 19, 2013 | Details |
 |
March 13, 2013 | KayeJobe | Eastland County, Texas, United States | March 16, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 13, 2013 | KayeJobe | Eastland County, Texas, United States | March 16, 2013 | Details |
  |
March 12, 2013 | kjheiden | Bexar County, Texas, United States | March 15, 2013 | Details |
