Six inch moth spotted at Jameson, MO
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Jane McKinsey snapped a picture of this Cecropia silkmoth at the home of Doris Croy’s in Jameson on June 20. According to a article by Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC), a science center operated by the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior, only three other counties in Missouri have confirmed records of distributions of this particular moth.
Though the moths are secure globally, sightings are quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Jane says the wing span of the moth she photographed was abut six inches. The moth’s body is red with a white collar and white bands on the abdomen. Wings are dark brown with white hairlike scales giving a frosted appearance; forewings are red at the base. Crescent spots and the area outside the postmedian line are red on all wings.
The moth takes two flights in the Midwest, from May to early June and then two weeks later.
Various trees and shrubs including box elder, sugar maple, wild cherries and plums, apples, alder and birch, dogwoods, and willows serve as hosts at the caterpillar stage.
For more information about moths of North America go to www.npwrc.usgs.gov.