When a moth is named for a mythical giant, one has to suspect that it will be large. Indeed, the Polyphemus Moth is the largest moth in British Columbia, and one of our largest insects of any kind.
Polyphemus, the gigantic cyclops, lived on an Aegean island and ate humans—two for breakfast, Homer tells us.
Polyphemus, the gigantic moth, lives in southern BC forests (and elsewhere) and eats nothing—yes, nothing, the adult’s mouth is vestigial, and this results in a rather short lifespan.
The only function of the adult male Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) is to find females and mate. The finding is facilitated by his large feathery antenna; they are scent detectors tuned to the female’s pheromones.
Polyphemus Moths have a wing span of 9 to 14 cm; this one spanned about 12 cm. It did not stay on the spruce branch for long, but soon flew off on its quest.
How very interesting! I did not know we had moths of that size here. I shall certainly keep an eye out now – I certainly would not like to be someone’s breakfast!
Hummm… Was this the moth-er of all moths?
Dave, indeed. To which one could add that this was a mouthless moth.
Saw one of these in my yard (west of Kamloops) some years back. Seems to me it was easily 12 cm across, though I didn’t measure it. VERY impressive.