Cecropia Moth

 This gorgeous Cecropia moth was on our back deck yesterday morning. It's about 5" across. The reddish parts are more orangey in real life.  What a handsome fellow! It is a male because his antenna are wide and feathery.

(Click on photo for full width)The design is so intricate and beautiful. I particularly like the white dusting on the upper part of the forewings, the zigzagging white line from the wing tip to the black "eye" , and the wavy border lines. We haven't seen a cecropia moth in several years so it was a treat to have one show up.  The caterpillar eats maple, cherry and birch so it has food in our bush. Check out Wiki's article on it for a very good photo gallery of its life stages.  The mature caterpillar is a hoot - green with multicoloured dots and spikes, and blue feet.