Sweetbay Silkmoth

I recently spotted this Sweetbay silkmoth (Callosamia securifera) on the loading dock at MOSI. At 3:30 in the afternoon he was out and flying around, likely looking for a mate.

Sweetbay Silkmoths are a member of the Wild Silkmoth Family (Saturniidae) and can be found from Virginia south to Florida and west to Mississippi. The females lay eggs on Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) and this moth hosts on this plant with reported exclusivity. The pupa of silkmoths are wrapped in silk threads to protect and camouflage the developing moth inside.

The adults of this species are active during the day and seek mates in the afternoon. The males are darker in color than females and males in the later months of the year will be quite a bit larger in size than early spring males.

This species is closely related to the Promethia Silkmoth (Callosamia promethea) which hosts on several plant species and the Tulip-tree Silkmoth (Callosamia angulifera) which reportedly hosts only on Tulip Tree (Liliodendron tulipifera).

This particular moth was pretty beat up. Missing most of his right hind wing and a large strip from his left hind-wing, this moth likely survived an attack from a predator. Moths and butterflies often develop a ragged appearance as their life wears on and they survive brushes with predators and contact with objects. Butterflies and moths possess more wing than they really need to fly and can continue to live a pretty normal life even missing large portions of wing.