Polyphemus moth

Habitat:

spotted on small oak tree at residence adjacent to scrub area

Notes:

This photo comes from a dear friend whose son was in my preschool class. This her description: "When I took Jason out to show him the acorn on dad's tree this afternoon… He found this amazing cocoon. It's the size of an adult thumb. I'm not sure what's going to be inside. We broke off the branch and have it in a bug box. Every once in a while you can see something move inside the cocoon. Do you think it's a small alien or a large butterfly?" They have been waiting over two weeks for it to emerge..They were hoping for an ID so they might have a better idea of what to expect.