FW: Emergence of 50 polyphemus moths - Reston, VA - May 24

[Mike Quinn]

Please contact Craig (not a subscriber) if you have any comments on his
observations.

Craig Tufts
Chief Naturalist
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
Reston, VA 20190-5362

phone :(703) 438-6438
fax: (703) 438-6035
email: tufts at nwf.org

Thanks, Mike Quinn, Austin

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Tufts [mailto:TUFTS at nwf.org] 
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 10:22 AM
To: 
Subject: Another Insect Emergence

Although people seem to be tolerating well and even embracing the Brood
X perioidic cicada phenomenon that seems to be at peak at National
Wildlife Federation offices in Reston, Virginia this morning, it is
another insect emergence that is gripping us--and it's an equally
wonderful one in producing questions. If you have any thoughts, would
like to hear from you.

Our employees returned to their places of work this morning after a
long, hot weekend with magicicadas.  Within an hour, our internal email
naturalist list was reporting huge moths being observed frequently at
the back of our building. 

For whatever reason, there is a very impressive, successful, single
gender  emergence of polyphemus moths around our building.  We have
counted over 50 males this morning. They seem to be clustered around a
shaded west facing part of building-- facing an oak hickory woodland. 

Some moths were seen flying at the front, south-facing part of the
building when employees first arrived. If there was any indication that
something like this might be about to occur, it was observing 5 silkworm
cocoons at our entry pond on a cluster of three small buttonbushes,
Cephalanthus occidentalis, over the winter. 

Given my pessimism about this group of moths however, I assumed that
they would be Compsilura concinnata food and we'd never see any
emergence from whatever species these cocoons represented. Whether the
cocoons were in fact those of polyphemus or not, this morning's
emergence was a very wonderful event.

Craig 

The polyphmus is a moth that I usually see perhaps one of every few
years. Cecropias and lunas seem more common and our employees often see
regal and imperial moths on our windows.

Does anyone have any idea if we can expect females to emerge later than
males?  Is there any cyclicity mentioned in the literature for giant
silkworms and particularly polyphemus? 


 
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