Nikon 7900 pocket camera, hand-held image. This week has no “official” theme, but it mostly about big colorful Royal Moths, lol. I saw this Moth during daylight so I thought something was wrong since it is a night flyer. It was holding on to the side of a tree and twitching every so often. I approached slowly, hoping to get a shot and when I got close enough, I noticed a couple of ants biting it on the legs. I now was positive something was wrong. I put out a finger and it climbed on. I moved to a better lit area and took a couple of shots then it weakly fluttered off and landed on a Sumac seed head. I took some more shots and then let it be. Apparently it had reached the last stage of its short life and I am sad but sure it did not survive the night. Classification: Kingdom Animalia (Animals) Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) Class Insecta (Insects) Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths) No Taxon (Moths) Superfamily Bombycoidea Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths) Subfamily Ceratocampinae (Royal Moths) Genus Eacles Species imperialis (Imperial Moth) Size: adult wingspan 80-174 mm; female larger than male larva length to 100 mm Identification: Adult: wings yellow, variably spotted and shaded with pinkish, orangish, or purplish-brown; male more heavily marked than female, especially in the south Larva: two variable color forms - green form varies from light green to dark green; brown form varies from orangish to chocolate brown to almost black; pair of spined dorsal tubercles on second and third thoracic segments, and sometimes first few abdominal segments; spiracles prominent, yellowish-white, ringed with black; many long whitish hairs dorsally, and shorter less dense ones laterally; short middorsal horn on ninth and tenth abdominal segments; prolegs larger on tenth segment than on other segments Range: eastern United States plus Ontario and Quebec Habitat: deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests; adults are nocturnal and come to light Food: Larvae feed on leaves of Bald Cypress, basswood, birch, cedar, elm, hickory, Honeylocust, maple, oak, pine, Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sycamore, walnut. Adults do not feed. Life Cycle: Large yellow eggs are laid singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host leaves, and take two weeks to hatch. Larvae are solitary feeders. Pupation occurs in underground burrows. It over winters in the soil, as a pupa. Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. One generation per year in the north; one or two generations in the south Thanks to those who take the time to comment. Lee