Callosamia promethea
Species of moth / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Callosamia promethea, commonly known as the promethea silkmoth, is a member of the family Saturniidae, which contains approximately 1,300 species.[2] It is also known as the spicebush silkmoth, which refers to is one of the promethea silkmoth's common host plants, spicebush (Lindera benzoin).[3][4] C. promethea is classified as a silk moth, which stems from its ability to produce silk, which it does in the formation of its cocoon.[5] C. promethea lives in forests in the eastern U.S. and does not damage the trees on which it lives.[5][6][7] The species was first described by Dru Drury in 1773.
Promethea silkmoth | |
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Female | |
Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Saturniidae |
Genus: | Callosamia |
Species: | C. promethea |
Binomial name | |
Callosamia promethea (Drury, 1773) | |
Callosamia promethea hatches from eggs and feeds on its host plants before pupating while hanging from trees during the winter.[3][8][6] It then emerges and mates during a specific time of day.[9][8] The females utilize pheromones to attract males for mating, with both sexes mating multiple times.[4][8] They are the only moth in their family where the sexes are not active at the same time of day, with males being diurnal and females being nocturnal.[4] They only overlap in activity for a few hours in the early evening.[8][9] The males use mimicry of the poisonous pipevine swallowtail butterfly as a form of protection from predators.[8]