[3] To find a mate, the female cecropia moth emits pheromones which the male detects with its sensitive antennae.

At these final stages, the tubercles become blue, yellow or orange, depending on location on the body, while the black hairs are eventually lost.

[5] Once the caterpillars reach maturity, they spin large brown cocoons longways on trees or wooden structures.

[8] The original description of the insect juvenile hormone by Carroll Williams in Nature in 1956 is from the cecropia silkworm.

[9] This large insect had enough juvenile hormone in its abdomen to permit extraction of detectable amounts from a single specimen.

Cecropin, a major protein involved in the humoral immunity of most insects, was first isolated from and named after Hyalophota cecropia.

[10] In August 2012, a cecropia moth caterpillar was accidentally imported from Ontario to St. John's, Newfoundland, via a shipment of dogwood shrubs.

[12] Within 48 hours of its arrival the caterpillar began spinning a cocoon; it wintered at the federal Agriculture and Agri-Food research facility in St. John's, whence it had been transferred by the owner of the importing company.

On May 29, 2013, the predominantly black and red female moth — named Georgina by the facility's staff — emerged from her cocoon with a roughly 20 cm (7.9 in) wingspan.

After allowing Georgina to complete her natural lifespan, researchers planned to pin and preserve her for future study.