X Close Editor

Submitted by: Moni

Title

Comment
Annie You are quite fortunate to find a Regal or Royal Walnut Moth. This is one of the large silk moths in the family Saturnidae. The caterpillars are called Hickory Horned devils. These moths are found in the eastern United States: New York to Florida, west to Texas and Nebraska and more common in the southern areas, more rare in the northern range. Larvae feed on leaves of ash, butternut, cotton, gum, hickory, lilac, pecan, persimmon, sumac, sycamore, walnut. Adults do not feed. Adults of this family are known to come to bright lights at night. The females are larger than males. So your pic shows the female on the right and male on left. They are opposite the iron bar so they either finished or have not started mating. For mating one is usually headed one direction while the other headed the other direction with the tail ends together. Thanks for the great photo showing the size of male and female. Since there is only one other photo in Bugguide of a pair of these moths you might consider adding your photo to Bugguide site! It directs you on how to do that. Here are a couple of websites to look at with your daughter if you wish. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3334 http://bugguide.net/node/view/3559/bgimage

Cancel Delete Delete & Ban

Updating Comments page...

X Close Editor

Submitted by: Anonymous

Title

Comment
found one of these in the Smoky Mountains of NC... very large for a moth, but i have also had Luna Moths here... and it's only about 1/4 the size of a luna. striking colors.

Cancel Delete Delete & Ban

Updating Comments page...

X Close Editor

Submitted by: Tracey

Title

Comment
Spotted the same type of moth today here in Missouri.

Cancel Delete Delete & Ban

Updating Comments page...