The Pandora moth or Pandora pinemoth (''Coloradia pandora'') is an insect belonging to the

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

genus '' Coloradia''. The species was first described by C. A. Blake in 1863. It is native to the western United States. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of the Pandora moth feed on the foliage of several species of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees, including the lodgepole, Jeffrey, and ponderosa pines. The larvae populations sometimes reach high enough levels to cause severe defoliation; such outbreaks have occurred in northern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, central

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

people in California's

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...

and

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a Salt lake, saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes Hypersaline lake, high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake ...

areas harvest, prepare, and store the larvae (which they call ''piuga'') as a preferred food. This has brought the natives into conflict with the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

, which has sought to control moth populations through the use of

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

Life cycle

Pandora moths are semivoltine, producing one new generation every two years. Around the end of June, the adult moths appear; they lay eggs which hatch in August. Over the winter, the larvae remain on the tree, feeding on its foliage. The following summer, the insects drop off the trees and pupate, burying themselves in the ground, where they will remain for a year (or, in some areas, 2–4 years), until they emerge as adult moths.

Human use

The

s (''Nüümü)'' of California's

(''Payahuunadü'') and

(''Kootza Paatsehota)'' harvest, prepare, store, and eat the larvae of the Pandora moth, which they call ''piuga'' or ''piagü''. The larvae are collected at their most mature stage, during their July or early-August migration to the forest floor at the end of their first year of life. They are gathered by hand once or twice a day, and temporarily stored in trenches in the ground. The larvae are then roasted in fire-heated sand for half-an-hour to an hour; the sand not only cooks the insects but also serves to remove the urticating fine hairs, the

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

, from their bodies. The cooked larvae are washed, sorted, and dried. Stored in a cool and dry place, they keep for at least a year and perhaps as long as two. The dried ''piuga'' are reconstituted before consumption by boiling for about an hour in plain or salted water. The boiled insects have an odor described as like that of cooked

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s. They are eaten as a finger food; the entire larva is eaten except for the head. The cooking water is also consumed as broth, or used as a base for a ''piuga''-and-vegetable stew.

Gallery

Image:Coloradia_pandora_eggs.jpg, Eggs Image:Coloradia pandora larva.jpg, Larva Image:Coloradia_pandora_larva1.jpg, Larva Image:Coloradia_pandora_pupa.jpg, Pupa Image:Coloradia pandora adult1.jpg, Adult Image:Coloradia_pandora_adult_female_(top)_-_male_(bottom).jpg, Adult female (top) and male (bottom)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3542275 Hemileucinae Moths described in 1863 Edible insects Insect pests of temperate forests