''Hyalophora columbia'', the Columbia silkmoth or larch silkmoth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Saturniidae Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, is a family of Lepidoptera with an estimated 2,300 described species. The family contains some of the largest species of moths in the world. Notable members include the emperor moths, royal moths, and gi ...

. In the east it is found from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, northern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and south-eastern

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. In the west it is found from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

south through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

to south-western

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and into central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The species was first described by

Sidney Irving Smith Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843 in Norway, Maine – May 6, 1926 in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American zoologist. Private life Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton. His brother in law was Addison Emery Verrill. ...

in 1865. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 80–100 mm. Adults are on wing from May to July. There is one generation per year. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e feed on '' Larix laricina'' in the eastern part of their range. Furthermore, it has been recorded on in ''

Prunus pensylvanica ''Prunus pensylvanica'', also known as bird cherry, fire cherry, pin cherry, and red cherry, is a North American cherry species in the genus ''Prunus''. Description ''Prunus pensylvanica'' grows as a shrub or small tree, usually with a straigh ...

'', ''

Alnus rugosa ''Alnus incana'', the grey alder or speckled alder, is a species of multi-stemmed, shrubby tree in the birch family, with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Tolerant of wetter soils, it can slowly spread with runners ...

'' and ''

Betula papyrifera ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

'' in western Ontario. In the west they feed on '' Prunus demissa'', ''

Prunus emarginata ''Prunus emarginata'', the bitter cherry or Oregon cherry, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to western North America, from British Columbia south to Baja California, and east as far as western Wyoming and New Mexico. It is often found in recent ...

'', ''

Purshia tridentata ''Purshia tridentata'', with the common name bitterbrush, is a shrub in the genus '' Purshia'' of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America. Common names include antelope bitterbrush, antelope bush, buc ...

'', ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, ...

'', ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

'', ''

Shepherdia argentea ''Shepherdia argentea'', commonly called silver buffaloberry, bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry, is a species of '' Shepherdia'' in the Oleaster family. It is native to central and western North America, from the Prairie Provinces of Canada (A ...

'', '' Eleagnus angustifolius'' and '' Ceanothus''.

Subspecies

*''Hyalophora columbia columbia'' *''Hyalophora columbia gloveri'' (Rocky Mountains) - also considered a separate species as '' Hyalophora gloveri''

External links

* *
"The Columbia Moth ''Hyalophora columbia columbia'' (S. I. Smith, 1865)"
''Silkmoths''. Retrieved November 11, 2018. Hyalophora Moths of North America Moths described in 1865 Taxa named by Sidney Irving Smith {{Saturniidae-stub