Rare aberration in the Promethea Moth, Callosamia promethea

摘要

Going back to April 29, 2017, I need to relate a discovery of a Promethea Moth female that emerged from my own livestock, F2 generation, reared indoors on young potted Spicebush trees (genus Lindera species bezoin (hopefully untreated by herbicides))here in Onset, Mass. in my sunlit living room. It was reared from fertile eggs, courtesy Don Adams, from a female mated with a wild male Promethea Moth, and showing heretofore unseen phenotypic variation. This female moth is smaller than the usual Promethea. What is all the fuss? Most promethea moths, males & females do not show secondary "eyespots" on the dorsal and ventral forewings. However this female shows anadditional eyespot, obviously smaller, but quite evident a smaller "satellite" replica, an identical echo of the adjacent primary eyespot at the distal tip of each wing, making four false eyespots in all. These same "snake-eyespots" are likened to suggest an actual snake eye that may cause fright and perhaps deter a predatory mouse, for example. When coupled with adjacent reddish curving wing scale patterns that resemble bloody teeth lines in a snake's mouth, the overall bluff adds to the repelling effect. This may be especially true when the moth wings are fanned, potentially instilling more fear causing a chipmunk or bird to avoid the moth, preventing an attack. No proof of this theory exists, but the wing scale patterns merit discussion, and may have contributed evolutionarily to the long term survival of this and other Saturniid Moths. This new eyespot aberration may lead others to examine Saturniid moths in worldwide collections to see if this morphological mutation is apparent in other species,heretofore unknown in any other giant silk moth.