The Polyphemus

[Ayreonaut]

Last September my son Jonathan found a huge green caterpillar. It seemed about the size of my thumb!

I didn't get a picture of the caterpillar, but here's a stock photo.

We took it into the house and put it into a jar with an apple branch. To our surprise,

within minutes it began to sew the leaves together with silk and formed a cocoon.

I identified the caterpillar as a polyphemus moth, one of the five giant silk moths in our area.

We waited for nine months and it finally emerged yesterday. Its antannae are 3/4" long,

its body is 1-1/4" long and its wingspan is over 6 inches!

We let it go last night and it fluttered off into the darkness.

Here are two photos that I took.

[Sonnie]

Amazing!

[Stephanie_tva]

Holy Molecule....

[Ayreonaut]

I recently figured out that he was a male.
The bushy antannae are the give away.