Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Who is in that cocoon?
Discovered on April 19th, 2022 hanging on my ‘Candy Corn’ spirea… WHO is this?
Since the season is so late there were no leaves on the shrubs so the cocoon was very visible. I reached out to my listeners and found that it is, hopefully, the Hyalophlora Cecropia moth. In fact, I had several share their OWN stories of these moths.
This moth grows to 6 INCHES! It comes from a family of moths whose names I can’t pronounce but is prized by collectors and nature lovers alike for its huge size and showy appearance! Found all over North America, it is a stunner and the largest moth found here.
This from the University of Iowa: In late summer the caterpillar spins a dirty gray or brown cocoon resembling a pod attached to plant twigs or hung between branches. The cocoon is about four to five inches long and an inch or two wide. The insect remains inside this cocoon all winter and the adult moth emerges the following May.
The moth is very large and attractive, though they are seldom noticed because they are active at night. The overall wing color is dark reddish-brown. There are black spots near the outer tips of the forewings and a crescent-shaped spot in the center of each wing. The moth’s body is very plump and is covered with long, rust-red hair.
I will update you! I sure hope to see this beauty.