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unknown large heavy green cocoon

Started By sweetgrass , Sep 20 2018 10:27 AM

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6 replies to this topic

#1 Offline sweetgrass - Posted September 20 2018 - 10:27 AM

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V4QBu0TGpPJqd2.jpg

Found in my yard in Medicine Hat, Alberta on September 19/18  SE Alberta


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#2 Offline Zeiss - Posted September 20 2018 - 10:54 AM

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Looks to be some sort of Saturniidae cocoon.  I wouldn't be able to tell what species until it hatched.  You might need to over-winter it until spring.


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#3 Offline sweetgrass - Posted September 20 2018 - 11:36 AM

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Yes I will keep it. Outside ow in a gauze covered jar. Thanks

#4 Offline Salmon - Posted January 15 2019 - 9:19 PM

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Looks like a polyphemus moth cocoon that isn't finished being spun. Did it become thicker and more opaque over the next couple days?


#5 Offline FeedTheAnts - Posted January 16 2019 - 7:38 AM

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Keep it till it emerges! If it is a Polyphemus moth then that will be super cool. I caught an adult Polyphemus a few years back, it was incredibly large, and looked like a bat.


I accidentally froze all my ants 

#6 Offline Canadian anter - Posted January 16 2019 - 7:48 AM

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I've kept a ton of silkmoths. From this pic alone seems more like a Luna, as they have thinner cocoons than polyohemeus
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#7 Offline Salmon - Posted January 17 2019 - 6:42 PM

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I've kept a ton of silkmoths. From this pic alone seems more like a Luna, as they have thinner cocoons than polyohemeus

The caterpillar is still visible inside, so the cocoon is definitely still in the early stages of spinning and thickness is irrelevent.

 

I guessed polyphemus because their cocoons are more frequently built in trees or out in the open and tend to be much more commonly encountered. Also, if you look at the range of the two species, polyphemus seems to be the one more likely to turn up in southeastern Alberta:

 

https://www.inatural...?taxon_id=47916

 

https://www.inatural...?taxon_id=47916


Edited by Salmon, January 17 2019 - 6:43 PM.

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