The cecropia: A moth with a mission

The cecropia: A moth with a mission

My first sighting of a cecropia moth was from a boat. It was a sunny morning and I was paddling along the lakeshore, expecting to see familiar birds. Instead, my eye was drawn to a large brown spot covering an alder leaf. My first thought was that it was a discoloration, perhaps from a fungus. Paddling closer, I saw it was a moth—a very, very big one.  The cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia) is North America’s largest moth, similar in size to a giant…