Image ID 106339 Premium Services      Ailanthus Silkmoth (Samia cynthia) Nature-printing and hand-colored engraving by Sherman Foote Denton From: S. F. Denton, As Nature Shows Them: Moths and Butterflies of the United States…. Vol. 1 of 4 (Boston: Bradlee Whidden, 1900) NYPL, General Research Division

Although the caterpillar of this handsome moth feeds on the Ailanthus tree, unforgettably associated with Brooklyn thanks to Betty Smith’s 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it is quite rare, and is reported here only in Queens. Both the tree and the moth are nonnative species introduced from China, the moth in the late 19th century in a misguided and failed attempt to establish a United States silk industry.

The author describes nature-printing in his Preface: "The colored plates, or nature prints, used in this work, are direct transfers from the insects themselves; … the scales of the wings of the insects are transferred to the paper while the bodies are printed from engravings and afterwards colored by hand."

Check out the sighting log to record your interaction with some of the native New York City wildlife, such as the Ailanthus Silkmoth, featured in Urban Neighbors. You may also browse the sighting log by animal, borough, park or natural area, and/or habitat to view a sighting you have submitted or to read others’ observations.