"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis fam. Saturniidae (Hodges#7704)
Host plant(s): Found on sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Date(s) and location(s): 16 Aug, 2025 – Council Bluff Lake, Iron County, MO; 25 Aug, 2025 – Tyson Research Center, St. Louis County, MO
Notes: A wide-ranging species distributed across the Americas from Argentina to Canada.
Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis fam. Saturniidae (Hodges#7704)
Host plant: Three individuals found at this date and location: 2-redbud (Cercis canadensis), 1-sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Date found: 16, Aug, 2025
Location found: Council Bluff Lake, Iron County, MO
Notes: This was found during the WGNSS joint Entomology and Nature Photography Groups’ outing to Council Bluff Lake.
I forgot to post the following adult imperial moth from our black-lighting night this year in the previous post. As you can see, it was a worthwhile night! I photographed this species once before and they do commonly show up on black-lighting occasions, but I never get tired of them showing up! All of these images were taken at Engelmann Natural Area in Franklin County, MO.
This imperial moth caterpillar was found on a night cat hunt in late September.
Belonging to the family of moths called Saturniidae, the Imperial Moth can reach up to six inches. Many members of this family are large-bodied and short-lived as adults – typically living only one or two weeks and not feeding in this stage. This female was attracted to lights during a national moth week event at Cuivre River State Park on July 31, 2016.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 