UI Connecticut cocoon

[Clay Taylor]

John et al.-

    I think Doug is right with door # 2.

    Polyphemus has that kind of oval cocoon- it usually falls to the ground
and stays in the leaf litter until spring.  Every Cecropia cocoon I have
ever seen is very firmly attached to the branch, and is usually tapered at
the ends, where the silk wraps around the branch.   Besides, I've never
heard of Cecropia on spirea, either.   Promethia / Tulip Tree Moth have
elongate, hanging cocoons using the leaf as both camouflage and structure.
I have never found a Luna cocoon in the wild, but I think they spin on the
ground using the leaf litter for camo.

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at att.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Yanega" <dyanega at pop.ucr.edu>
To: <LEPS-L at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 5:33 PM
Subject: Re: UI Connecticut cocoon


> >Hi folks - I came across a cocoon attached to a spirea twig.  There is a
> >picture of it posted at http://booksandnature.homestead.com/Misc.html.
> >Anyone know what it is?
>
> I'd wager on it being a cecropia, though it might be a Polyphemus.
> --
>
> Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
> phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>             http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
>    "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
>
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