I talked about your question with my friend Allan Felsot. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University. He told me cocoons are mostly silk. But they’re usually made by moths. A butterfly ...

Blathers' Blabber: Oak silk moths are seen in the summer and are one of the largest moth species in the world. They make silk from their mouths as they transition into the pupa stage. As adults, they ...

Late fall and early winter are the best times of year to spot giant silk moth cocoons in New England. Perhaps you’ve seen these creatures in the summer, fluttering by your porch light in the evening ...

This is the time of year when large moths are sometimes found at ground level in the early morning. For the most part, these moths have already laid eggs and are near the end of their lives. These ...

The silkmoth Bombyx mori, originally native to China, was domesticated about 5000 years ago. Its larvae, silkworms, enclose themselves in a cocoon when they enter the pupa phase. They spin their ...

Most people think of moths as small insects fluttering across porch lights, but some species greatly challenge that image.