It's not a butterfly — it's a moth! Learn how to identify the promethea silk moth, a beautifully patterned backyard visitor.

If you assumed that the bag was a type of cocoon, you’re partially ... like caterpillars with brown, black, and gray markings. Adult males are black, fuzzy moths with translucent wings.

At this stage, these caterpillars have a distinct red and black pattern around their ... and then form a tough cocoon, in which they will stay as a pupa all winter before emerging as a moth in the ...

The species was originally identified by John H. Wood on July 10, 1890, near Tarrington, England. After the discovery, Wood ...

The caterpillar, along with most others in the Saturniidae family, spins a silk cocoon. This is where it then spends its time as a pupa, the stage of development before the moth becomes an adult.

Adult atlas moths may be massive, but they do not feed at all after they have emerged from the cocoon. The proboscis, which other butterflies and moths use to drink nectar, is tiny and does not work.

Stigmella torminalis, a pygmy moth with a wingspan of less than 0.5 centimeters and tufts of black or orange hair ... larvae or the pale orange-brown cocoons. “Larvae were found in late June ...