Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

National Moth Week was July 23-31, 2022! See moth submissions.

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Coloradia pandora - Pandora Moth - Hodges#7724

Moth - Coloradia pandora Moth - Coloradia pandora Is this a Coloradia pandora pandora? - Coloradia pandora Large dark grey/brown moth - Coloradia pandora Chinese Dragon - Coloradia pandora - male Large moth with fuzzy yellow antenea makes a housecall to escape july heat - Coloradia pandora - male Pandora Moth - Coloradia pandora - male Saturniidae: Coloradia pandora - Coloradia pandora
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Bombycoidea (Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths)
Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths)
Subfamily Hemileucinae (Buck and Io Moths)
Tribe Hemileucini
Genus Coloradia
Species pandora (Pandora Moth - Hodges#7724)
Hodges Number
7724
Other Common Names
Pandora Pine Moth
Pandora Pinemoth
Size
Wingspan 70-98 mm; male considerably smaller than female
Identification
Adult: forewing speckled gray with black zigzag PM and ST lines that sometimes touch; reniform spot represented by a black discal dot; AM line black, jagged, but does not touch reniform spot; hindwing white with diffuse dark median line, black discal spot, and varying amounts of pink at base and along inner margin
Range
Western United States
Habitat
Pine forests
Season
Adults fly from July to September
Food
Larvae feed on the leaves ("needles") of various species of pine (Pinus). Particular host records include: Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), sugar pine (P. lambertiana), pinyon pine (P. edulis), and Coulter pine (P. coulteri).
Adults do not feed.
Life Cycle
Two years are required to complete development. Second- or third-stage caterpillars overwinter the first year in tight clusters, resume feeding in the spring, pupate in June or July, and spend the second winter in underground pupation chambers lined with silk and plant litter. Some can remain in the pupal stage for up to 5 years before emerging as adults.
[copied from text at butterfliesandmoths.org]
Remarks
Larvae are prepared and eaten by Paiute natives in California. For more info, see the brief account at Wikipedia, or more detailed journal articles like Aboriginal Exploitation of Pandora Moth Larvae in East-Central California or Harvesting Pandora Moth Larvae with the Owens Valley Paiute.
See Also
Lusk's Pine Moth (Coloradia luski) forewing has AM line that touches reniform spot (compare images of both species by Jim Vargo at MPG)
Print References
Powell & Opler(1), pg. 238.
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.