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Answer
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Brady
asked
on
5/25/2007,
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Will a Polyphemus Moth female lay eggs if she did not mate with a male? |
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Jim's answer: |
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Brady, Yes, the Polyphemus female moth will eventually attempt to lay her eggs even though she did not mate with a male. My brother and I once raised giant silkworm moths such as Polyphemus and Cecropia moths as a hobby years ago. We kept the moth larvae or caterpillers in an outdoor screened cage high in the trees and fed them their favorite leaf foods. Once in awhile one of them would hatch out earlier than anticipated and start to lay eggs all over the cage with no other moths around. Unfortunately, these beautiful moths only live a few brief weeks in the summer the way it is but once the female lays her eggs, she dies a short time later having fulfilled her destiny I suppose. As you may already know, male polyphemus moths have large feathery antennae studded with thousands of sensory hairs which are stimulated by the odor released by the females. This scent can be detected by the males over five miles away so if you were wondering how these relatively rare large moths can find each other in such a brief time period it would seem nature has solved this problem.
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