Imperial moth
Eacles imperialis (Drury, 1773)
Family: Saturniidae
Subfamily: Ceratocampinae
Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.
Wing Span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).
Life History: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.
Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.
Caterpillar Hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Confirmed feeding on Norway spruce (see record 738773). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.
Adult Food: Adults do not feed.
Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.
Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
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Verified Sightings
Displaying 361 - 384 of 2704 verified sightings
Observation date: Jul 22, 2017
Submitted by: ESSVA
Region: Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Apr 29, 2020
Observation date: May 22, 2019
Submitted by: Palmiera
Region: Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Apr 22, 2020
Observation date: Jul 15, 2019
Submitted by: Roshan 2010
Region: Howard County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Apr 19, 2020
Observation date: Aug 24, 2019
Submitted by: Reiner Jakubowski
Region: Ontario, Canada
Verified by: rosslayberry
Verified date: Mar 30, 2020
Observation date: Mar 28, 2020
Submitted by: lyndseymj
Region: Athens County, Ohio, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Mar 28, 2020
Observation date: Jul 18, 2019
Submitted by: dmccord
Region: Hamilton County, Indiana, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Jan 31, 2020
Observation date: Aug 31, 2016
Submitted by: Kurt R. Schwarz
Region: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Dec 21, 2019
Observation date: Jul 25, 2019
Submitted by: J_Martineau
Region: Winona County, Minnesota, United States
Verified by: J_Martineau
Verified date: Dec 11, 2019
Observation date: Sep 12, 2019
Submitted by: Twinz18
Region: Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 07, 2019
Observation date: Sep 12, 2019
Submitted by: Twinz18
Region: Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Dec 07, 2019
Observation date: Jul 27, 2019
Submitted by: Morbid Adieu
Region: Carter County, Tennessee, United States
Verified by: Ken Childs
Verified date: Nov 26, 2019
Observation date: Aug 02, 2019
Submitted by: Smalltowngirl
Region: Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States
Verified by: Ken Childs
Verified date: Nov 26, 2019
Observation date: Jul 02, 2019
Submitted by: TomObrock
Region: Lee County, Florida, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Nov 11, 2019
Observation date: Aug 28, 2019
Submitted by: Tommie Rogers
Region: Marion County, Tennessee, United States
Verified by: Ken Childs
Verified date: Nov 11, 2019
Observation date: Nov 04, 2019
Submitted by: Wendy Abel
Region: Bell County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Nov 09, 2019
Observation date: Aug 31, 2017
Submitted by: Colette
Region: Crawford County, Missouri, United States
Verified by: CA Ivy
Verified date: Oct 24, 2019
Observation date: Oct 23, 2019
Submitted by: ctwalker203
Region: Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Oct 23, 2019
Observation date: Oct 19, 2019
Submitted by: John McCreight
Region: Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Oct 22, 2019
Observation date: Oct 15, 2019
Submitted by: McCready1
Region: Lee County, Florida, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Oct 16, 2019
Observation date: Sep 28, 2019
Submitted by: xrayannie2005@y...
Region: Essex County, New York, United States
Verified by: rosslayberry
Verified date: Oct 01, 2019
Observation date: Sep 29, 2019
Submitted by: Katherine J Den...
Region: Buchanan County, Missouri, United States
Verified by: CA Ivy
Verified date: Sep 30, 2019
Observation date: Sep 28, 2019
Submitted by: Ccovic007
Region: Osceola County, Florida, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Sep 29, 2019
Observation date: Aug 21, 2019
Submitted by: enanderson4
Region: Rock County, Wisconsin, United States
Verified by: Tom Middagh
Verified date: Sep 28, 2019
Observation date: Sep 16, 2019
Submitted by: Hannahs
Region: Racine County, Wisconsin, United States
Verified by: Tom Middagh
Verified date: Sep 28, 2019
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