Cecropia Silkmoth

— In the summer of 2021, I visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. On that particular visit, I happened to stop in an area where the Center keeps moths as they do their gestation period. I made several photos there and posted them in this article. I had no idea that I would go back to the center exactly nine months later to the exact date. If you read that article, you saw that Cecropia Silkmoths have a gestation period of approximately 9-10 months. On this most current visit, I witnessed the results of the gestation period. The Center was about to release the silkmoths that were generated in the summer of 2021.

Contrary to the first visit, this time I did not have access to the silkmoths outside of the room they were in. Consequently, the photos you see here may show some granular texture. That is because they were behind a screen and dirty glass panel. I did my best to capture them in the conditions I had at hand.

Inside that room, there were approximately 5-6 silkmoths ready to live. Now, remember that they only live 5-6 days once they emerge out of their cocoon. It is such a short life for such a long gestation period.

The Cecropia Silkmoth is simply gorgeous. There is a certain silk appearance to their wings as you can see in these photos. Their name is indeed very appropriate. You can still see some of the leaves that were protecting the cocoon as the silkmoths emerge from it. Just click on the thumbnails to see the large images.

I was very lucky to have witnessed this process right before their emergence. I also reposted below the two photos from nine months ago. They show the cocoon and caterpillar.