Giant Silkmoth Life Cycle - Hyalophora euryalus

[felidsentry]

I am in LOVE with your bug videos! I actually found them after finding a huge cocoon outside. It had a large hole in it, so I assumed the caterpillar inside was eaten at by something. I cut away the cocoon though, and he wiggled like a little madman! I don't know what it is, but it looks similar to the pupae in this video. I was curious if maybe you could identify him if I uploaded a video of him...?

[JcmdiStockFootage]

Odds are good you have a Saturniidae (Wild Silkmoth) cocoon if it's large like this one.Definitely shoot and upload some video, and also note what what part of the country you are in and the kind of plant/tree that you found the cocoon on, as that info will also help with ID. :-)

[laserbabe1]

Are they poisoness?

[JcmdiStockFootage]

Not at all. They cannot bite or sting. The caterpillars have an amazing grip but are otherwise big, fat, and harmless. XD The adult moths have no mouthparts whatsoever and can't even eat! Once they change from caterpillar to moth (metamorphosis) they live entirely on stored fat and only have a week or so to live before they "run out of gas" and die. Pretty amazing critters :-) Thanks for checking it out!

[taylorgal2002]

I'd seen these moths before, but I had no idea where they came from and what they were. Silkworm?!? I'm amazed. Wonderful video, very educational. Thanks for putting this together!

[jcmegabyte]

This particular species is found all over the western US - especially in the mountains, so if you are anywhere near some wilderness you could get these at your porch lights in March and April. The Giant Silkmoth family (Saturniidae) consists of about 1500 species worldwide, and includes the commercial silkworm too, although that species has been dependant on man for thousands of years and can't even survive in the wild any more. Thanks for watching! :-)

[Trembo3578]

@jcmegabyte the commercial silk moth is in the family Bombycidae, not Saturniidae

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for pointing that out - I tend to lump all the silkmoths into one big group :-)

[Fire666Hell]

Really fascinating work and larvae,Chris!

You know,H.euryalus is actually bigger than S.pyri.

You really have amazing bugs in your area.

[jcmegabyte]

Yea, Eury's can get big - some of the females can get up to 6" across, but even so, they do only have 5 instars. Strange...

[cuckoowasp2009]

Great stuff, as usual!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for the view and kind words! Cheers! :-)

[satsuki26]

gorgeous! 

[jcmegabyte]

Aren't these cool? This species was my first experience with giant silkmoths, many years ago... I found a female at a street light one morning on the way to school. She laid a bunch of eggs, which I reared all the way through to the next generation and I was fascinated by the whole process. Seen any Polys yet? They should be flying just about everywhere by now...

[satsuki26]

@jcmegabyte Wow that's amazing that you had the chance to rear them through the next generation! No I haven't and I'm so sad about it too lol. I leave my outdoor lights on for awhile when it gets dark but I haven't had any luck. I searched my backyard a lot for any signs of just anything really lol and I had no luck either. I guess I just got lucky two summers ago lol but I won't give up!

[SirChubblesSteen]

Oh man, cool!! I had one of these (caterpillars) living in our backyard a couple years ago! Big, green and with lots of colourful spikey things all over :3

[jcmegabyte]

The caterpillars of this genus (Hyalophora) can be very colorful - and they often change colors each time they molt so they put on a good show their whole lives. Thanks for watching and commenting! =)

[Rob1994p]

Hi jcmegabyte.

I will receive 25 eggs of this specie this week.

Could you give me some advice for rearing?

Regards

[jcmegabyte]

The big secrets to rearing Saturniidae are to keep the larvae warm (70F - 85F), dry (no condensation or exposed moisture/water), and supplied with lots of fresh host plant (of the correct type, of course). They will thrive under those conditions. :-)

If you are rearing H. euryalus, definitely have a look at the euryalus rearing pages on my website: JCMDI d0t c0m - there's lots of good documentation on this species there :-)

[Fire666Hell]

Extremely cool !!!!!

Silkmoth larvae really are amazing.I guess these eat so much in their last instar that they leave whole twigs without leaves. :)

Nature is amazing!

[jcmegabyte]

Yup - mature 4" monster worms like these can really strip a LOT of host plant quickly! Fortunately, they're just about ready to spin-up when they finally reach this size XD

[aurorebleue16]

wow fantastic

[jcmegabyte]

They are interesting creatures for sure! Thanks for watching =)

[Minestroogo]

it seems a bat. O_O

[jcmegabyte]

Yes - they are as large as bats, and are sometimes mistaken for them when they come to peoples' porch lights at night! :-)

[Pebbleprominent]

Do you get the Robin Moth (Hyalophora cecropia, I think) around your area?

[jcmegabyte]

No H. cecropia here on the west coast.. We have these Hyalophora euryalus, plus H. columbia, and H. columbia gloveri further north and east of where I am. All very cool moths. :-)

[Rcrc1997]

the moth

[Rcrc1997]

ok that is huge

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed they are - some people mistake them for bats when they show up at porch lights.

Even though these get to be over 4" across, the world's largest moth (an Atlas Moth from SE Asia) grows to 12" across... now that's REALLY big! :-)

[Pebbleprominent]

It is quite funny - you said that the first time you bred the silkmoth was when you were 13. Same for me - I first bred my emperor when I was 13 (in fact last summer - I am 14 years old now!)

[Pebbleprominent]

Quite a pair of antennae on that thing - not even the emperor has antennae as big as that.

One thing I want to know - do you get American moon moth (Actias luna) around where you live - it's a species I am going to rear next year (I will, of course get it from a British larva dealer)

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed those are some big antennae... These are big, strong moths and the males are said to be able to detect and and fly to females which are 4 or 5 miles away.

Unfortunately, no Luna Moths in my area. I understand that they DO fly in this part of the country, but are very scarce at best. In the eastern parts of the US, they can be quite common. You should have a good time rearing them. Good luck! :-)

[popyou]

Red soldier: MAGGOTS!

[Aerolseventh]

are the larvae's spikes are poisonus??

[jcmegabyte]

Fortunately this species doesn't have stinging spines, but some of the other species I've studied do. Even those aren't too bad though - a lot like the sting of Nettles.

[Aerolseventh]

thank you so much!!

[Gretgor666]

An amazing bug :D

[jcmegabyte]

These really are great bugs to rear - it takes a full year to complete their life cycle but the project is well worth it :-)

[kantoechi]

We found this incredible Moth in our backyard in Altadena. We have been observing him for a couple of days. It is really beautiful.

[jcmegabyte]

I remember finding my first one. It was a female and it laid eggs... I went nuts trying to figure out what they ate before the eggs hatched. I finally did, and when they hatched, I reared them for the first time. It was quite the experience. I was about 13 at the time.

The adult moths don't eat, so you won't be able to feed it. If it doesn't flap around too much and use up its energy, it can live for a couple of weeks. Enjoy the show! :-)

[coold1do]

ULTRA,MEGA SPECIAL AWESOME!!!!!!

[gogopod]

Amazing, I love all your videos. How do you acquire of so many different species of butterfly? Do you order from somewhere?

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for the great comment! I am fortunate to live in Southern California, (Bio-diversically speaking, of course!) where there are well over 200 species/subspecies of day-flying leps to be found. Within only a two-hundred mile radius we have a huge array habitats, from ocean shore to arid deserts and all the way up to alpine terrain at 10,000 feet+.

There's way more than one person can document, but I'm doing my best! :-)

[gogopod]

Nice! I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida, where a lot of interesting life flourishes, except for the people ; )

I'm that guy that looks in every nook and cranny for whatever I can find, but I rarely come across cocoons and chrysalises. Come Spring time, I will look a little harder. These videos are very inspiring.

[jcmegabyte]

The key to finding Lep early stages is to find those places where there are both adults and their host plants. Breeding activity usually happens most when the bugs are just emerging, and caterpillars can be found on those plants 2-3 weeks afterwards. It's usually much easier to collect and rear the larvae than to find chrysalises and cocoons. Good luck - and be sure and shoot some video of your adventures! :-)

[autumncornsilk]

jcmegabyte - Beautiful video! Is this what we call a "horn catapiller" most commonly found on tomato plants? Unfortunately, my cat sometimes brings one in at night (at moth stage) - big as a small bird!

[jcmegabyte]

This moth is from the giant silkmoth family (Saturniidae). The "horn caterpillar" (also called a "Tomato Hormworm") that you have is actually a Sphinx moth, the "Carolina Sphinx" (Manduca sexta) and looks more like a small hummingbird than a moth. If you google those names or have look on my website (under local leps) you can find some pics of the adult moths. Thanks for watching! :-)

[autumncornsilk]

jcmegyte - You are a wealth of information! Your videos are very well done....Do you do this as a living? I will look up the horn caterpillar on your site...I am a member of our Botanical Gardens & Butterfly House, I can spend hours watching butterflies emergeing, but the only moth I have taken an interest in s the Hummingbird Moth - they love my Honeysuckle. Now I will look at moths in a new light - ty so much!

[jcmegabyte]

The bug thing is only a hobby, but a fairly serious one and I've been doing it for many years. Seems like the more I learn about them, the more amazing they are, and there more I find that there is still to learn! The Hummingbird Moth is in the same family as the Tomato Hornworm (Sphingidae), even though they don't look very much alike. :-)

[keepthemusicplaying0]

Another beautiful video! And your responses to comments are most educational on some members of Nature which until now I had just taken for granted. Thanks for the enlightenment (oh, how do you spell that???)

[jcmegabyte]

I think that's the right spelling (I'm too lazy to look it up right now! hahaha). Thanks for the nice comment. I definitely enjoy seeing and documenting the lives of these little critters, and it's nice that I can share my finds with others. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching :D

[starzship]

You have great music on each video too! Awesome moth!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Unfortunenately this one isn't in stereo - it was uploaded before the HQ/&fmt=18 thing and I didn't do the FLV self-coding. Still, it's decent in mono. These really are cool bugs, and fairly common in CA mountains in April/May. They' really big (about 4" across) and can scare the crap out of people sometimes, if they fly in to a porch light or even someone's house after dark! :D

[Tyranitar635]

you should do some dragonfly vids.

[jcmegabyte]

If I see any while I'm out filming - I'll try to get some footage :D

[armiger044]

dood, it just layed a huge turd on ur finger? how u feel???

[cokeforcoke]

they were eggs

[roark20]

it eggs not poop the moths cant poop becauses they dont drink or eat

[Rob1994p]

is it a atlas moth?

[jcmegabyte]

This is actually a Ceanothus Silk Moth (Hyalophora euryalus) - it's in the same family (Saturniidae) as Atlas (Attacus atlas)but not very closely related to it. :D

[ALberto1444]

JC, do u collect them with photos now. I hope you do only that. Pinning a few is good. I just feeel bad when they're endangered. In SW WA a stall sells exotic specimens such as common birdwing. Every had to have the giant BW now they're almost gone. ALberto1444

[jcmegabyte]

These moths are fairly common here in southern California. These days I do a lot more photography and documentary than collecting. You might be surprised to find that most Birdwings and other popular tropical butterfly specimens come from farms which don't deplete the natural populations. The real problem with declining butterfly populations is habitat destruction. 1000 guys with nets in ten years can't do the same damage as 1 bulldozer can do in 10 days. Kinda sad.

[Trembo3578]

very well done!

[bettswood]

YOU ARE AWESOME - This is what I photograph more than not...

Butterflicks as my grandson calls them

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for the nice comment :) So, where can I see your work?

[Crius11]

Ah, now I understand the difference. So moths pupate inside the cocoon, right? Very cool.

[jcmegabyte]

That's exactly right. :) Of course, with 600,000+ species of butterflies and moths, there are many variations of the process. Some are just totally bizarre.

[Fatescort]

Awesome, more please!

[jcmegabyte]

There are 9 more in progress... I just have to write the music for them!

[manjankan]

ur camera must be a zillion mega pixles to get such a high reselution image at the begining

[jcmegabyte]

You might be surprised to know that the camera used for the stills is only a 4Mp unit, and those pictures were reduced to less than 1Mp before adding them to the movie. The DV video is only 720x480 (about 0.75 Mp!) Good lighting really helps the original picture quality. :-)

[milkriverfilm]

very, very nice!

[Kugamazog]

Wow, that's spectacularly done.