Actual ranges may, in many cases, be more expansive than noted. There are some species indicated that may now be extirpated.
Clicking on a scientific name will take you to a file with pictures and/or information.
James Passafero confirms Actias luna and Antheraea polyphemus (2003) in McCormick County.
John Taylor writes regarding the following eight counties:
Allendale, Colleton, Clarendon, Richland, Dillon, Horry, York and
Lancaster:
"I have lived in South Carolina all my adult life (about 34 years) and
in that time have lived in several different counties on the Eastern
side and a couple in the middle (the "Piedmont".)
"I'll list below the moths I remember encountering, and, where it was
unique to a particular county, I will mention that:
"A. io is abundant in all eight counties. Males very yellow
with the lower wings having a cape of red "fur". Gorgeous when
fresh.
"A. luna is also common everywhere. I think our spring form
is as beautiful as they get with broad purple perimeter banding on
upper and lower wings and a lot of lavender on the body (of the male
especially). We have at least three broods with the summer broods
being plainer and of a more blue-hued green than the yellow-hued
green of spring.
"A. polyphemus is common everywhere. They seem to come in two
varieties (esp. the males). One a reddish brown and my favorite a
much deeper almost chocolate grey-brown which accentuates the
eyespots and gives the lower wings and abdomen the almost perfect
look of the face of an owl. The wild ones are quite large. Reared
ones never seem to quite reach that size even in sleeves.
"C. angulifera is also abundant everywhere as tulip trees are
ubiquitous here. I have never had females come to light as often as
males although aquaintences have said they get more females than
males... but that goes against my experience.
C. promethea... believe it or not I have never found a cocoon
or a living moth in South Carolina yet I know their range covers this
area. One of the reasons I ordered ova from you is, now that I have
semi-retired and have time to rear more things, I wanted to get
females and let them call for males in several locations to see if I
have just missed them as most of my collecting has been at night
(although I keep a sharp eye out for cocoons and have found a
prometha cocoon in almost downtown Atlanta, GA. just last
year.) Subsequent to ordering the ova from you I got some cocoons
from a guy in another state. As they emerged I let the females call,
but no responders. It seems to me that they must be scarce here if
they are here.
"C. securifera... I found a coocon, from which a male moth
emerged, on a sweet bay tree in Dillon County, SC. That is the only
location I have found them. That is a species I want to rear and I
hope to get back to that location in the next year or two to see if I
can find cocoons. If you ever get ova I would love to be high on
your list!
"H. cecropia... like promethea and also hard to believe as all
range info shows SC, but I have never found a living moth or been
brought one. I know from the "Moths of America North of Mexico" that
they have been found on the Wedge Plantation in the Southern part of
the state. I once lived in Allendale County in that vicinity and
never saw one there either. I did find an empty cocoon (the baggy
type) once in Clarendon County, SC. But I think they must be very
localized and scarce here. An aquaintence from Pennsylvania told me
he has found cocoons on willow oak in the medians of interstate hwys
in SC, but I have no verification. It's hard for me to believe that
in 33 years I have not come across one when so many people bring me
their "odd" "rare" etc. "bugs" to identify. While I am sure there
must be some isolated populations, they have eluded me.
"C. regalis.. I have found these in all eight counties. They
seem more common in the southeastern parts of our state. I have only
found two in 8 years in my current location covering York and
Lancaster Counties. I am rearing some this year to get females for
calling next year.
"C. sepulcralis.. I have yet to find this one in York or
Lancaster Counties, but periodically found it and raised several
broods in other locales, specifically, Allendale, Horry, Dillon,
Walterboro. It was the first Citheronid I ever reared. I love the
way they bend a pine needle into a bow and feed it into their jaws
without having to move!
"C. imperialis is plentiful during its relatively brief flight
period and I have seen some every year in every location (females are
harder to come by as they don't often come to lights.) I have found
caterpillars on several occasions on red cedar which is abundant here
and in almost all other localities I have haunted.
"D. rubicunda is abundant here and I believe I have found it
in all the other counties I have spent time in (Allendale, Colleton,
Clarendon, Richland, Dillon, Horry, York and Lancaster). It is still
a favorite of mine as the colors are so wonderful together. When I
do little moth displays for festivals or the museum, etc, people
(non-mothophiles) never fail to comment on the pink on yellow
sometimes not even mentioning the much larger moths.
All of the oakworm moths are also common here (in fact I have a
semi-large herd of A. stigma defoliating a branch of a
white oak in my back yard right now ..uninvited!)"
Matthew Durham reports taking a female luna, August 13, 2003, in Abbeville County. Eggs hatched nine days later and are being reared by family.
Fred Copeland, Rock Hill (York County), confirms A. polyphemus with a larva find Septmber 8, 2003, cocooned the following day.
Toni Brill, Anderson County, confirms Eacles imperialis with a larva find on September 30, 2003.
On April 5, 2004, I received the following email:
"I live in Columbia (Richland County), South
Carolina. Yesterday afternoon in my flower garden
I noticed an unusual caterpillar trying to climb up onto some branches
in a dwarf azalea bush. It was between 2 and 2.5 inches long, real
fat, all white (with the exception of a series of 5 to 6 dark
circular rings extending the length of its abdomen, and its black
legs and antennae).
"What really caught my eye were what appeared to be tiny yellow, lime
green wings near the back of its head. I chuckled and thought that
those little wings will never lift that chubby little fellow.
"About
45 minutes later I returned to the back garden only to find the
caterpillar holding on to one of the inner branches of the azalea,
his body was a lot smaller, but his wings were twice the size. I
watched him off and on over the next hour and
his wings just got huge. They were a solid bright green, black
outlined around the edges (especially the tops which I could see
best), had a single little black curlie-que design on each wing near
the very top, and the bottom portion of the wings were long and
almost appeared to be draping.
"As time went by, his body which had appeared to be shrinking, started
to get fatter again. Periodically, it would shift positions and
stretch its wings. What a sight.
"I wanted to be there when it flew off, but darkness came and
he hadn't budged. This morning he was gone, but I sure did enjoy
his visit. I really would like to know what type of moth or
butterfly it was.
"Please let me know if you can help me identify it. Thanks for your
help."
I wrote back explaining that the writer had witnessed a newly emerged luna moth and that all butterflies and moths go through a similar process. Lunas are emerging early in South Carolina this year.
Non-member Ryan Taylor, from Clarendon County, writes, "From the list of Saturniids, I can definitely confirm Callosamia promethea (I brought several males in with a scenting female) and Citheronia sepulcralis. I collected a larva feeding on pine and reared it to adult."
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