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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

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Species Nemoria darwiniata - Columbian Emerald - Hodges#7035

Representative Images

Darwin's Emerald - Nemoria darwiniata - male Nemoria species - Nemoria darwiniata - male Emerald - Nemoria darwiniata Columbian Emerald - Nemoria darwiniata - male Columbian emerald - Nemoria darwiniata - female Darwin's Emerald - Nemoria darwiniata - male Arizona Moth - Nemoria darwiniata Columbian Emerald Moth - Nemoria darwiniata
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 Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Geometrinae (Emeralds)
Tribe Nemoriini
Genus Nemoria
Species darwiniata (Columbian Emerald - Hodges#7035)

Hodges Number

7035

Other Common Names

Darwin's Emerald

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Nemoria darwiniata (Dyar, 1904)
Phylogenetic Sequence # 910615

Size

wingspan 27-34 mm

Identification

Adult: forwing green with straight white PM line and fainter oblique AM line; veins faint, whitish; costa and fringe white; orange dot at apex; thorax green; abdomen light green or brown with white dorsal spots surrounded by reddish-brown ring
hindwing similar but PM line with slight bend in middle; tiny reddish or orange discal spot on all wings (a distinctive feature) Ferguson notes that the discal spots can vary from red to green.
Specimens identified by DNA analysis:


Larva: color extremely variable (white, yellow, pale brown, light green, silver, or dark brown); abdominal segments 2-5 with pointed lateral flanges; integument granulate, almost velvety

Range

British Columbia to California, east to New Mexico, north to Alberta

Habitat

mountain forests

Season

adults fly from June to August
larvae from March to September

Food

larvae feed on leaves and flowers of various trees and shrubs: oak (Quercus spp.), Myrica, Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), Black Hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii), manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), Snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus), Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra), Scouler's Willow (Salix scouleriana)

Remarks

Sub-species:
Nemoria darwiniata darwiniata - (western & southwestern range)
Nemoria darwiniata punctularia Barnes & McDunnough, 1918 - (central & southern CA only) This sub-species has bolder discal spots and more intense reddish area surrounding the much reduced abdominal spots. (Maury J. Heiman)

See Also

Nemoria glaucomarginaria has larger white spots on the abdomen, surrounded by a very similar reddish color and no discal spots on the wings.


The only other Emerald moth with reddish discal spots is Nemoria zelotes, which has a prominent red terminal line on all wings, and is apparently restricted to Arizona.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 16 February, 2006 - 12:09am
Additional contributions by Robert H. Biagi, Steve Morris
Last updated 11 July, 2022 - 1:42pm

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