Order: Lepidoptera (le-pid-OP-ter-a) (Info)
Family: Saturniidae (sa-tur-NEE-ih-dee) (Info)
Genus: Eacles
Species: imperialis
Profile:5 positives
1 neutral
No negatives
Regional...This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: Malvern, Arkansas
Melbourne, Florida
Palm Bay, Florida
Barnesville, Georgia
Cartersville, Georgia
Edwardsville, Illinois
Spring Grove, Illinois
Bettendorf, Iowa
Burlington, Iowa
Nichols, Iowa
Urbandale, Iowa
West Des Moines, Iowa
Benton, Kentucky
Thibodaux, Louisiana
West Tisbury, Massachusetts
Glouster, Ohio
Alexandria, Pennsylvania
Austin, Texas (2 reports)
College Station, Texas
League City, Texas
New Caney, Texas
San Antonio, Texas (2 reports)
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia
Lynchburg, Virginia
Member Notes:
| Rating | Author | Comment |
| Positive | melody | On Jul 24, 2006, melody from Benton, KY
(Zone 7a) wrote:With a wingspan that sometimes reaches 5 7/8", the Imperial Moth is one of the most striking moths in North America.
It's habitat is Deuciduous and mixed forests and the catepillar feeds on broad leaved tree foliage and conferous needles.
They are most commonly seen between June and August. This moth is starting to become rare in areas where there are many streetlights, as they come to the lights at night and birds eat them the next morning. | | Positive | cash4rash | On Jul 1, 2007, cash4rash from Swisher, IA wrote: June 30th, 2007
My husband and I was on our way to Keokuk, Iowa to get a load of coal in the semi bright and early Saturday morning. We stopped at a truckstop outside Ainsworth, Iowa and this moth was resting on a pole. It is HUGE and Beautiful. Never seen one before!!!! | | Positive | LunamothMama | On Jul 13, 2008, LunamothMama from Vineyard Haven, MA wrote: I was hanging laundry this afternoon and happened to look down on the ground and spy this beautiful Imperial Moth! it's wingspan is about 4" and is just a brilliant shade of yellow with dusty purple striations on the wings. I moved him carefully away from where he was, i have a 3 year old daughter and i was afraid he'd get squished.... so he is now happily hanging out on my lowbush blueberries!
according to Wikipedia there is an actual colony of these moths here on Martha's Vineyard but this is the first i have seen.
i will contribute a photo shortly.... | | Positive | astronomy | On Jul 16, 2008, astronomy from West Des Moines, IA wrote: July 15, 2008
I was coming out of the Art Center in Des Moines,
Iowa and saw this moth on the steps. The area is wooded.
Our grandson put it in a jar and brought it home. We were
all amazed at the wingspan and had never seen any insect
like this. We looked it up on your web site and saw it matched
perfectly to the imperial moth.
We released it back at the Art Center for its food source. The folks
at the Polk County conservation office said it was not harmful
to my garden or trees. | | Positive | NayButterfly | On Jul 29, 2008, NayButterfly from Burlington, IA
(Zone 5a) wrote: My 6 year old daughter and I found this moth just hanging out on our front porch! We were amazed at how big this moth is. It was about the size of my hand, a good 4 inches or so across and about 3 inches or so long!
All the neighbors and other family members came over and took a look. We looked it up on the internet and that's when we found out it is an Imperial Moth.
It stayed there for 3 days, each day it was in a different spot but still on the front porch, until it left.
It was so cute, fuzzy and peaceful. None of us have ever seen one of these before, so it was just as exciting to the adults as it was for the kids! | | Neutral | GimpyGrandma | On Aug 3, 2008, GimpyGrandma from Lynchburg, VA wrote: This moth measured at least 6 inches from wing tip to wing tip. |
| | By melody
 By DoSaye
 By pegzhere
 By violabird
 By violabird
 By GD_Rankin
 By GD_Rankin
 There are a total of 23 photos.
Click here to view them all! |
