Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

6 June 2005   (date of moth capture)  (top)  (female)
18 June 2003   (date of moth capture)  (center)  (female)
6 June 2005   (date of moth capture)  (bottom)  (female)
The photos at top and bottom are of the same specimen.

Callosamia promethea, commonly called the Promethea Moth or Spicebush Silkmoth (Covell, 1984), is one of about 10 species of Saturniidae recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  The Saturniidae, variously termed the Giant Silkworm or Royal Moths include our largest and some of our most spectacular moths.

Callosamia promethea is sexually dimorphic, and generally only the females are attracted to light.  To date, I have not seen or photographed a male at my location.

The female Callosamia promethea is reddish brown and creamy beige in color.  The inner half of each wing is dark reddish brown, with a somewhat indistinct whitish antemedial line and often (but not always) a pale whitish mark in the middle, shaped somewhat like a V or checkmark.  The outer half of the wing is creamy beige, heavily shaded with reddish brown inside a convoluted band of beige, defined with a fine dark line along the outside,  that runs parallel to the outer margin.  On the hindwing, this convoluted band is marked with rounded spots of reddish brown.  There is a band of plain beige along the outer margin.  Near the apex of the forewing, there is a rounded dark spot with a pale outline, somewhat reminiscent of an eye.  Covell (1984) indicates a wingspan from 7.5 to 9.5 cm for this species.

The male Callosamia promethea is much darker brown to black in color, with just a narrow border of beige along the outer margins of the wings.

According to Handfield (1999), the host plant for Callosamia promethea appears to vary from one locality to another, and has been reported variously as cherry, ash, maple, barberry, birch, buttonbush, beech, apple, pine, poplar, oak, willow, lilac, basswood and viburnum.  For my general area, he indicates an adult flight season from the beginning of June into the second half of July.

My records to date for Callosamia promethea (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: