June means warm nights, summer solstice, fireflies ...

and the seldom-seen giant silk moths. Giant silk moths are members of the family Saturniidae and include some of the most spectacular native large moths found right here in Berks County. Many people will go through their entire lives without ever seeing one, or perhaps just one.

That’s mainly because these moths are nocturnal; that is, they only fly at night and rest motionless and camouflaged during daylight hours. These moths do not feed as adults; they have no mouthparts and cannot eat nectar, leaves or anything else. Despite their large wingspan and body size, they are completely harmless.

They literally have no defense mechanisms other than camouflage. All of their feeding is done as caterpillars, during which time they eat leaves of certain plants. As caterpillars, they are prey to parasitic flies, ants and chipmunks, among others; plus the bacterial and viral infections they can suffer, and weather issues, overspray of pesticides, etc.

As a result of all these hazards to caterpillars, out of a typical female’s 250-350 eggs, only 2-3 might actually become adult moths. All of these discussed in this article spin silk cocoons, hence the term giant silk moth. They normally emerge from their cocoons on a warm afternoon, the month of June being typical for many species.

The adult moths emerge with tiny soft crumpled wings and climb a stem or tree trunk or other structure where they can let their wings hang, and they .