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Species Hyalophora columbia - Columbia Silkmoth - Hodges#7768
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Bombycoidea
Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths)
Subfamily Saturniinae (Silkmoths)
Tribe Attacini
Genus Hyalophora
Species columbia (Columbia Silkmoth - Hodges#7768)
Other Common Names Columbia Moth
Larch Silkworm (larva) Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Glover's Silkmoth (H. c. gloveri) was formerly considered a separate species Size wingspan 80-100 mm
larvae to 90 mm long, and 20 mm wide Identification Adult: easily confused with Cecropia Moth [and vice versa]; wings dark reddish-brown from base to PM line, dark gray in subterminal area, and pale yellowish in terminal area; AM and PM lines thick, white; pale yellow or whitish discal spots on all wings (spots are oval on forewings, crescent-shaped on hindwings); large black spot near apex of forewing; no red shading beyond PM line on forewing and hindwing [this last characteristic distinguishes columbia from cecropia]
Larva: body green with prominent, paired dorsal tubercles and smaller lateral ones; head green with bluish labrum and short dark line at sides of frons; four small black spots in bluish anterior half of prothoracic shield; spined, reddish and black tubercles on T2, T3, and A1; white dorsal tubercles on A2 to A7 tinged with yellow near tip; large, white middorsal tubercle on A8 with black spots, and with yellow tint at tip; white supraspiracular and subspiracular tubercles with blue base; white spiracles; prolegs larger on A10 than on other segments
[description adapted from forestpests.org] Range British Columbia to Nova Scotia and adjacent northern United States; in the west, occurs south to Texas and central Mexico (see US distribution map) Habitat forests with poorly drained, boggy, acidic soil; suburban gardens; wide variety of wooded habitats Season adults fly from May to July
larvae from July to September Food in eastern North America, the preferred food of larvae is tamarack; in the west, larvae eat leaves of alder, birch, Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), buckbrush (Ceanothus spp.), buffaloberry, cherry, rose, Russian Olive (Eleagnus angustifolius), willow Life Cycle one generation per year; eggs are laid singly on food plant, and hatch in 8-19 days, depending on temperature; overwinters as a pupa in spindle-shaped cocoon attached lengthwise to twig or trunk of tree or shrub See Also easily confused with the very similar Cecropia Moth ( Hyalophora cecropia), which has red shading beyond PM line, and is larger [wingspan to 150 mm] ( compare images of both species) Internet References live images of all life stages plus common name reference [Columbia Moth], distribution, description, food plants, biology, and other info (Bill Oehlke, Prince Edward Island)
live adult and larva images plus common name reference [Columbia Silkmoth] (Moth Photographers Group)
live adult image of subspecies H. c. gloveri by Phynix Carlson, plus US distribution map, description, distribution, food plants, biology, references (butterfliesandmoths.org)
pinned adult images - 1 specimen of subspecies H. c. gloveri, and 2 specimens of nominate subspecies (CBIF)
food plants plus adult description and photo of forewing (Nicky Davis, Utah)
pinned adult image plus food plants, biology, description, and other info (Manitoba's Silk Moths, naturenorth.com)
live larva image plus description, biology, distribution, and common name reference [Larch Silkworm; larva] (C.T. Maier et al, USDA Forest Service, forestpests.org)
foodplants plus distribution, links to images, references (Markku Savela, FUNET)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (CBIF) |
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