2025 Caterpillar Season – Promethea Silkmoth

Promethea Silkmoth
Callosamia promethea fam. Saturniidae (Hodges#7764)
Host plant: Found on buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Date found: Sep, 2025
Location found: St. Louis County, MO
Notes: One of my notable “finds” of the season for me. This was my first look and photographs of this magnificent silkmoth species. Many thanks to Harit Kaur Bal who originally found a group of these caterpillars and to Chris Brown for inviting me over to photograph a couple of these beasts that he collected for rearing.

Typical pose of a promethea silkmoth upon being disturbed
After being out of their enclosure for a few minutes these caterpillars realized we meant them no harm and got busy feeding.
The backsides of caterpillars are often interesting and this one is more interesting than most for obvious reasons 🙂
Callosamia promethea (promethea silkmoth)
The bashful model…