Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
This gorgeous moth was photographed by one of our readers and she wrote to ask what species? We have here a male Polyphemus Moth, a member of the Family Saturnidae (Wild Silk Moths). Polyphemus moths are widely distributed throughout Massachusetts but we rarely see them because they fly at night and because their life as an adult is so brief. This giant beauty is only on the wing for about two weeks, spending most of its life in trees in the caterpillar and cocoon stages. The caterpillars eat a wide variety of trees and shrubs including maple (Acer), and birch (Betula), oak (Quercus), and willow (Salix).
Like nearly all members of our Wild Silk Moth family, they are in sharp decline, mostly because of the pesticides people spray their trees to rid them of non-native invasive moths, and because of the tachnid fly, which was introduced to control Gypsy Moths, a biological control gone terribly wrong.
Polyphemus Moth
Debra Martell writes that on July 19th, Gloucester High School History teacher, Michael Perreault, captured this shot of a Monarch on Purple Coneflower in Magnolia.
Monarch Butterfly
Good Morning Gloucester 