Cecropia – King of the Moths

Last month the WGNSS Nature Photography Group took a side trip back to one of our favorite places – the Roston Native Butterfly House in Springfield, MO. Among other fantastic native leps on display were adult and larval forms of Hyalophora cecropia, or the Cecropia Moth. Named after the legendary King Cecrops of Athens, H. cecropia is the largest moth native to North America. Thanks again to the Roston Butterfly House and to the great volunteers who staff the facility and put up with a bunch of old dudes with cameras.

A mid-instar Hyalophora cecropia caterpillar
A last-instar Hyalophora cecropia caterpillar