My View of Life on the Dock
Do any of our dear readers have a Paper Birch tree with some low hanging branchesĀ that I could cut? The branches need to be low enough for me to reachĀ with a pair of pruners. Don’t worry, it won’t harm the tree.Ā The foliage is neededĀ for ourĀ ginormous and still growing Cecropia Moth caterpillars. Please leave a comment in the comment section or feel free to email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. Thank you!
Paper Birch in the moonlight Niles Pond
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Christine Morey from Annabelle’s Pet CareĀ sent this photo of a newly emerged Cecropia Moth. This is the second year in a row that she has found a Cecropia Moth cocoon on her hydrangea bush. The hydrangea is sited below her birch tree, which is one of the caterpillar’s food plant. The Cecropia Moth is the largest North American native moth, with a wing span of six inches! Gorgeous Christine–thank you so much for sharing!!!
Male Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia)
What to look for in your garden ~
Cecropia Moth Cocoon ~ Image courtesy google image search
No exciting news yet to report on our Giant Silk Moth Cocoon. The leaves of the American Birch Tree are unfurling, but no movement within the cocoon.
I am so excited to tell you about this wonderful find. I was walking my pooch Rosie on our usual route down to the harbor and, dangling at eye level from a tree that I have passed a hundred times this winter, there was this structure. Thinking it was what it is, I ran home and checked my Lepidoptera books, and it is the cocoon of a member of the Giant Silk Moth Family, Saturniidaee (not to be confused with the oriental silk moth,Ā Bombyx mori, from which silk fabric is spun).
Hanging from the tip of the American White Birch branch you could easily mistake it for a dry withered leaf, and that is exactly what the caterpillar has done, weaving the leaf around itself to pupate within. The cocoon is quite a good size, approximately two inches in length by one inch in width. The caterpillar pupates during the summer, overwinters in the cocoon stage, then emerges sometime in May or June. Giant Silk Moths live only for about a week.Ā They mate soon after eclosing and then perish.Ā Giant Silk Moths do not have mouth parts; all eating is done during the caterpillar stage.
Giant Silk Moth Cocoon
Several members of the Giant Silk Moth family of caterpillars eat birch leaves. Ā I am hoping (and it looks a great deal like) it is the cocoon of the simply stunning Luna Moth, however it could also be the beautiful Polyphemus Moth.
Luna Moth ~ Images courtesy Google
Polyphemus Moth ~ Image courtesy wiki
Good Morning Gloucester 