Attributes of Callosamia promethea

Promethea silkmoth
Callosamia promethea (Drury, 1773)

Family: Saturniidae
Subfamily: Saturniinae
Identification: Males and females differ. Male body is black; wings are black with tan borders, faint tan postmedian lines, and pink near the eyespots on the forewing tips. Female wings are dark brown to reddish-brown with tan borders and well-developed tan cell spots on all wings.
Wing Span: 2 15/16 - 3 3/4 inches (7.5 - 9.5 cm).
Life History: Males seek females in the afternoon and early evening, with most mating occurring from 4 PM to sunset. At night, females lay rows of 4-10 eggs on the upperside of host plant leaves. Young caterpillars feed together while older caterpillars are solitary. Older caterpillars do not eat the leaf midvein, but cut the leaf petiole at the base so it falls to the ground, perhaps a defensive measure eliminating visual or olfactory signs of feeding. A caterpillar ready to pupate strengthens a leaf petiole with silk and then spins its cocoon inside the curled leaf. The cocoon hangs from the host plant throughout the winter.
Flight: One brood from May-July in the north, two broods from March-May and in August in the south.
Caterpillar Hosts: A broad range of plants including spicebush (Lindera benzoin), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), white ash (Fraxinus americana), lilac (Syringa vulgaris), and others.
Adult Food: Adults do not feed.
Habitat: Deciduous woodlands.
Range: Eastern United States to the Great Plains and Maine west through southern Quebec and Wisconsin to Minnesota; south to the Florida panhandle, the Gulf coast, and east Texas.
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: None reported.
Taxonomy Notes:

Images of Callosamia promethea

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Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-26.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-26.jpg
Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-23 .jpg

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Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-27.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-27.jpg
Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-28.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-28.jpg
Callosamia promethea - Callosamia-promethea-Bob-Moul-25.jpg

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Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_prometheaBachler.jpg

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Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_prometheaBergida.jpg

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Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_dorsalGould.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_dorsalGould.jpg
Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_ventralGould.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_ventralGould.jpg
Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_coccoonGould.jpg

Callosamia promethea - Callosamia_promethea_coccoonGould.jpg
Callosamia promethea - callprom.jpg

Callosamia promethea - callprom.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 18, 2013 lachatonne Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States May 19, 2013 Details
May 13, 2013 CosmicTwister Graham County, North Carolina, United States May 13, 2013 Details
June 15, 2003 fmgee Ontario, Canada April 29, 2013 Details
April 16, 2013 Corriemony Piscataquis County, Maine, United States April 28, 2013 Details
May 15, 2012 klavierabend Orange County, New York, United States March 23, 2013 Details
July 16, 2009 Ilona L. Dane County, Wisconsin, United States February 09, 2013 Details
April 08, 2004 curtis.lehman (Paul Dennehy) Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States January 26, 2013 Details
June 03, 2006 curtis.lehman (Paul Dennehy) Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States January 26, 2013 Details
June 03, 2000 curtis.lehman (Paul Dennehy) Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States January 26, 2013 Details
June 06, 2010 tjantscher Linn County, Iowa, United States January 14, 2013 Details
June 16, 2010 tjantscher Linn County, Iowa, United States January 14, 2013 Details
June 09, 2012 adelzeller Benton County, Iowa, United States December 29, 2012 Details
June 08, 2012 LinRandolph Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States December 13, 2012 Details
July 24, 2011 Ken Childs Chester County, Tennessee, United States November 29, 2012 Details
June 01, 1994 curtis.lehman Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States November 25, 2012 Details
June 27, 2012 K3Mike Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States November 24, 2012 Details
June 16, 2012 ellenjones6 Franklin County, New York, United States October 19, 2012 Details
August 11, 2012 stovallf Georgia, Telfair County, United States September 22, 2012 Details
September 12, 2012 Liz L Bryan County, Georgia, United States September 22, 2012 Details
July 12, 2009 David Trently Campbell County, Tennessee, United States September 17, 2012 Details
June 08, 2011 rosenthal.k Fairfax County, Virginia, United States August 21, 2012 Details
April 03, 2012 andrew.david.white Dawson County, Georgia, United States August 17, 2012 Details
August 04, 2012 trek10 Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States August 08, 2012 Details
June 29, 2012 widget Muskegon County, Michigan, United States August 03, 2012 Details
June 06, 2012 rosemarie04921 Waldo County, Maine, United States August 02, 2012 Details
July 22, 2012 LECA Ontario, Canada July 23, 2012 Details
July 06, 2012 DCD621 Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States July 11, 2012 Details
July 06, 2012 curiouspluscamera Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States July 06, 2012 Details
June 09, 2012 cbalerna New London County, Connecticut, United States June 27, 2012 Details
June 07, 2009 Stefan Peters Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States June 26, 2012 Details
June 18, 2012 Susan Sawyer Washington County, Vermont, United States June 22, 2012 Details
June 18, 2012 franciepants Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States June 21, 2012 Details
May 28, 2012 zmestel Vermont, United States June 18, 2012 Details
June 12, 2012 npeasley Hancock County, Maine, United States June 13, 2012 Details
June 11, 2012 Krista in Maine Waldo County, Maine, United States June 12, 2012 Details
June 07, 2012 skowhegan Somerset County, Maine, United States June 08, 2012 Details
May 27, 2012 aarongunnar Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States May 31, 2012 Details
May 27, 2012 lrivera York County, Maine, United States May 29, 2012 Details
May 26, 2012 slemieux Somerset County, Maine, United States May 27, 2012 Details
May 24, 2012 curtis.lehman (Rory Bower) Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States May 27, 2012 Details
May 24, 2012 krienke Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States May 26, 2012 Details
May 24, 2012 slemieux Kennebec County, Maine, United States May 25, 2012 Details
May 25, 2012 BrandyLynn Somerset County, Maine, United States May 25, 2012 Details
May 21, 2012 jwkunhardt Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States May 21, 2012 Details
May 16, 2012 Richard D. Breen Wood County, Wisconsin, United States May 17, 2012 Details
May 08, 2012 curtis.lehman (Rita Lehman) Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States May 09, 2012 Details
April 29, 2012 GeorgiaMoth Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States May 01, 2012 Details
April 17, 2012 tigergirl13 Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States April 19, 2012 Details
April 14, 2012 taylorcreek Albemarle County, Virginia, United States April 14, 2012 Details
April 08, 2012 Sixquiverful Oconee County, South Carolina, United States April 08, 2012 Details