Large unidentified moth eggs on window

Pierre A Plauzoles plauzolesp at bigvalley.net
Fri Jun 9 02:48:32 EDT 2000


Julie Seely wrote:

> Please forgive my ignorance, but I am hopeful that someone here can
> help.  I live in the US in northern New England (White Mts region),
> and tonight a large moth -- approximately 5" wingspan -- decided to
> lay some eggs on a glass door at our house.  The moth resembled a
> Cecropia or Promethea, but had distinct differences from the photos
> in my Audubon guide.  It most resembled the photograph of a Cynthia
> moth, but the Audubon guide says "only near major metropolitan
> areas", and "midsummer" flight which hardly describes our neck of
> the woods or this season.
>
> Anyway, my question is whether these eggs will survive, and if so,
> how long it might be before they hatch?  Is there any insect that
> will eat the eggs?  If the eggs will not survive on the window, is
> there anything I can do to help them out?  Move them to vegetation
> somewhere? Will they survive if moved indoors?
>
> The moth itself had rusty brown wings -- the color of a chocolate
> lab (think Clinton's dog Buddy); the outer margin of the wing was a
> pinkish beige about 5/8" wide.  The moth's body was also a pinkish
> beige with some white fuzz.  And there were bluish spots on the
> upper wing that I believe were crescent shaped.  The eggs are
> approximately 1/16" in diameter, white to yellow-white with a brown
> dot.

There is a wonderful web site that has a lot of good stuff on it,
including pictures:

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/mothsusa.htm

Try it.  You may find your moth illustrated in the photo-identifaction
section.

Pierre A Plauzoles

PS: For someone who is ignorant in matters entomological, you sure knew
what to pick out as keying features.




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