Polyphemus Moth Cocoon
Congratulations to Stein, the first person to correctly identify Monday’s Mystery Photo as the cocoon of a Polyphemus Moth!
The Polyphemus Moth is one of our giant silk moths, spinners of the largest cocoons in North America. Leaves are often woven into the surface of the cocoon in which the Polyphemus pupa spends the winter. Unlike most other giant silk moths’ cocoons, the Polyphemus Moth cocoon lacks an escape “valve” at one end. In order to emerge (as an adult) from the cocoon the summer after it spins it, the moth secretes an enzyme that digests and softens the silk at one end. Then it moves about the cocoon in a circular pattern, tearing the softened silk with two spurs located at the base of each wing on its abdomen. Eventually it escapes by splitting the silk and pushing the top up.
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