This week our headquarters had a great surprise – a visit from a cecropia moth. One of Canada’s largest moths, their wingspan can be approximately 15 cm wide! Our moth conveniently stayed put for 2 days, first on the ground and then hanging in a small ash tree mixed with our elms and maples. CWF’s facebook post on it got tons of attention, so we thought a few more photos and facts would be good!
Cecropia moths (Hyalophora cecropia) only live for a week or two as adults, with their sole purpose being mating and laying eggs. Adult moths don’t have mouth parts and never eat. They are native from Alberta to Nova Scotia and can be found around maple, apple, birch and poplar trees, among others, where they lay their eggs and caterpillars feed.
I love how you can see its eyes which are dark bluish looking.
Check out all the photos and comments on our facebook page, too!
[PHOTOS : CWF]
Sarah Coulber
Sarah is an Education Specialist at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. She writes about the benefits and ‘how-to’s’ of wildlife-friendly gardening, coordinates content for the Gardening for Wildlife web section, co-manages the wildlife-friendly demonstration gardens at CWF headquarters and assists Canadians looking to achieve similar results with their own properties.
2 comments
Hi! Just today I had a male hanging out on the door frame of my garage. What an amazing and lovely moth!! I feel so lucky to have seen it, especially since I have read that they are generally only as far west as the rockies and I live near Sun Peaks, BC. I took some pics too if anyone is interested 🙂
That’s great, Stacey! We’d love to see your photos. How about posting them on our Facebook page?