CLOSED: What moht is this - huge - never seen one before.

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onalee Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jan 27, 2008

I've never seen one of these before - what is it?

Onalee

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jan 27, 2008

It's a Polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus. Is that a recent picture? It's been so cold here it's hard to imagine a moth flying around.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/146/

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OldNed Merritt Island, FL(Zone 10a) Jan 27, 2008

Polyphe....whoops, claypa wins!

Post #4460283

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jan 27, 2008

Well, tell us if it's male or female, I forgot to mention that part!

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onalee Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jan 27, 2008

Hi,
Yes I took the photo today. I found the moth this morning clinging to my fence. When I started taking the pictures it dropped to the ground and started flopping, it couldn't fly. It probably hatched out too soon; that is a real problem here in the winter, we'll have 10 days of 70 degree weather and things will start hatching and plants will start budding out and then we'll be hit with a freeze and kill all those that hatched during that warm spell.

How long do they usually live? It says they don't eat, just breed and die - how do you tell if it is a male or a female. I have some more photos of the underside, would that tell you?

I've never seen one of these before and we have lots of butterflies and moths here, but this is a new one for me.

thanks for your help!

Onalee

Post #4460351

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onalee Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jan 27, 2008

Perhaps the reason I've never seen one before is that they have never been reported in my area of Florida according to this site:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3290&chosen_state=12*Florida

Onalee

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thea611 Manning, SC(Zone 8a) Jan 27, 2008

So beautiful!!!!

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OldNed Merritt Island, FL(Zone 10a) Jan 27, 2008

Your moth is a ♂. Its antennae are bipectinate (like a feather). Antenna is used to "smell" ♀♀

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onalee Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jan 28, 2008

Thanks for the info - It's a shame that it probably emerged too early to find any females . .it really is beautiful.

Onalee

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jan 28, 2008

Who knows...but if this one 'hatched' others may have, too. Sounds plausible to me, anyway.
It might be worthwhile to report your sighting to the site you linked to:

http://butterfliesandmoths.org/faq/report