Antheraea polyphemus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Antheraea polyphemus, the Polyphemus moth, is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths. It is a tan-colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 in). The most noticeable feature of the moth is the large, purplish eyespot on each hindwing; its name is from the Greek myth of the cyclops Polyphemus. The species, first described by Pieter Cramer in 1776, is widespread in continental North America, with local populations found throughout subarctic Canada and in all of the United States except Arizona and Nevada.
Polyphemus moths inhabit deciduous hardwood forests, orchards, urban areas, and wetlands. The caterpillar can eat a total of 86,000 times its weight in the first eight weeks after it emerges. Polyphemus moths are considered to be very polyphagous, meaning they eat from a wide variety of plants.
The life cycle of the moth is much like that of any other Saturniidae species. It lays flat, light-brown eggs on the leaves of a number of host trees, preferring Ulmus americana (American elm), Betula (birch), Salix (willow), but also, more rarely, can survive on other trees, including: Quercus (oak), Acer (maple), Carya (hickory), Fagus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Polyphemus Moth sighting in Riding Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 66th most-seen of the 104 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Polyphemus Moth in Riding Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. That is one of Riding Mountain National Park's wettest months, with about 70 mm of rain against 20 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Polyphemus Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Polyphemus Moth sightings, Riding Mountain National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cape Breton Highlands National Park (Canada, about 20%), Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 20%) and Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Polyphemus Moth that you can see in Riding Mountain National Park (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Red-Spotted Admiral (about 30%), Monarch (about 30%) and Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Polyphemus Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Riding Mountain National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
