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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths (Bombycoidea) » Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths (Saturniidae) » Buck and Io Moths (Hemileucinae) » Hemileucini » Coloradia » Pandora Moth - Hodges#7724 (Coloradia pandora)

Species Coloradia pandora - Pandora Moth - Hodges#7724

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

second image - Coloradia pandora - female

Tattered Pandora Moth - Coloradia pandora - male

Pandora Moth Larvae--Late Instar - Coloradia pandora

I reared this and still can't ID - 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.

Internet References

pinned adult image and species account (Jeff Miller, Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands, USGS)

pinned adult image by Paul Opler, plus US distribution map and species account (mothsandbutterflies.org)

pinned adult image plus photos of related species by Jim Vargo (Moth Photographers Group)

live larva images and species account (USDA Forest Service)

Works Cited

1.	Moths of Western North America Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 25 July, 2007 - 5:59pm
Additional contributions by Aaron Schusteff
Last updated 18 September, 2010 - 2:33am

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