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

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Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea-polyphemus-Bob-Moul-243.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea-polyphemus-Bob-Moul-243.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus-Hill.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus-Hill.jpg
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Antheraea polyphemus - 100_2127cropped.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusWeis.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusWeis.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusWeis2.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusWeis2.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea-polyphemus-Bob-Moul-244.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea-polyphemus-Bob-Moul-244.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus_larva-Hill.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemus_larva-Hill.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - PolyphemusMoth-Simons.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - PolyphemusMoth-Simons.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusRobertiello.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusRobertiello.jpg
Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusOsmond.jpg

Antheraea polyphemus - Antheraea_polyphemusOsmond.jpg

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.

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The fifty most recently verified sightings are below. See more recently verified sightings of all species.

Observation Date Submitter Region Verified Datesort icon
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