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; in Canada in 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.
By default, the fifty most recently verified sightings are below. Sort by Observation Date to see the most recent sightings, or filter the sightings by region to get a regional list.
| Observation Date | Submitter | Region |
Verified Date |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  |
June 17, 2013 | MeGaNzEd | Ontario, Canada | June 17, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 10, 2013 | dave_gillingham | Ontario, Canada | June 17, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 16, 2013 | Scotiaspinner | Nova Scotia, Canada | June 16, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 13, 2013 | Amanda Fulton | Medina County, Ohio, United States | June 16, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 02, 2012 | markshetka@gmail.com | St Louis County, Minnesota, United States | June 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 13, 2013 | trever | Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States | June 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 15, 2013 | okcjulie | Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States | June 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 15, 2013 | edenny | Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States | June 15, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 13, 2013 | BeaLaporte | Ontario, Canada | June 14, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 12, 2013 | Niko0008 | Orange County, New York, United States | June 13, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 09, 2013 | jstgsn | Kent County, Delaware, United States | June 13, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 12, 2013 | Karl Kranz | Baltimore City County, Maryland, United States | June 13, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 10, 2013 | Hailey Armstrong | Spokane County, Washington, United States | June 12, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 09, 2013 | Hkygirl30 | Ontario, Canada | June 11, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 09, 2013 | barry1724 | Westchester County, New York, United States | June 09, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 08, 2013 | shueydo | Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States | June 09, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 06, 2008 | jwunder3 | Orange County, Florida, United States | June 09, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 09, 2013 | Ruthellensheldon | Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States | June 09, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 07, 2013 | sharkwoman23 | Grand Traverse County, Michigan, United States | June 08, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 05, 2013 | BasmatiJones | Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States | June 06, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 06, 2013 | paintr | Ocean County, New Jersey, United States | June 06, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 04, 2013 | swoita | Santa Clara County, California, United States | June 05, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 04, 2013 | Sandra Cooper | Nova Scotia, Canada | June 04, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 21, 2013 | Maia | King County, Washington, United States | June 03, 2013 | Details |
  |
June 01, 2013 | nagold | Richmond County, New York, United States | June 03, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 30, 2013 | Ladella | Ontario County, New York, United States | June 02, 2013 | Details |
 |
June 02, 2013 | curtis.lehman (Margaret Higbee) | Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States | June 02, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 27, 2013 | Sandyfreeway | British Columbia, Canada | May 29, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 07, 2013 | kshanton | Knox County, Tennessee, United States | May 28, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 09, 2013 | laurenznicole | Davidson County, Tennessee, United States | May 28, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 11, 2013 | morse008 | King County, Washington, United States | May 26, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 26, 2013 | LChevele | Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States | May 26, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 23, 2013 | risroc | Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 26, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 09, 2013 | moonlightdancer1708 | Barbour County, West Virginia, United States | May 25, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 23, 2013 | erica32paulk | Dale County, Alabama, United States | May 24, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 24, 2013 | AllisonF | Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States | May 24, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 23, 2013 | jenelliott | Erie County, Ohio, United States | May 23, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 22, 2013 | boomgnomey | Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 22, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 22, 2013 | JimR-BurkeVA | Fairfax County, Virginia, United States | May 22, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 22, 2013 | carnaubahd | Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 22, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 20, 2013 | Sandy Miller | Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States | May 21, 2013 | Details |
  |
May 03, 2013 | mrkclarke3 | District of Columbia, United States | May 20, 2013 | Details |
 |
May 29, 2012 | yarmouthshipping | Lake County, Indiana, United States | May 18, 2013 | Details |
  |
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 |
