Dear Backyard and Beyond

A curious reader writes in with images of a mystery caterpillar she photographed in Central Park in mid-July.

Consulting David L. Wagner’s Caterpillars of Eastern North America, a gorgeously illustrated Princeton Field Guide, and bugguide.net, I believe what we have here is a polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus. This is one of the giant silkworm subfamily of moths, Saturniinae, which make substantial silk cocoons, and big adult specimens.

Wagner notes that attempts to use our domestic silkworms in the silk industry have failed repeatedly. After some 4000 years, silk still comes from the Asian-native Silkworm, Bombyx mori, and no other species.