Interesting Insects: June 2014

http://youtu.be/viKDEVfz8Rg

Solstice.

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hyalophora-euryalus

Attributes of Hyalophora euryalus

Ceanothus silkmoth
Hyalophora euryalus (Boisduval, 1855)

Family: Saturniidae

Subfamily: Saturniinae

Identification: Wings are red to brownish red. Areas outside the narrow white postmedian lines are also red to brownish red, but may have black overscaling. Cell spot on the hindwing is shaped like an elongated comma and touches or breaks the postmedian line.

Wing Span: 3.5 - 5 inches (8.9 - 12.7 cm).

Life History: Females glue eggs singly or in clumps on leaves of the host plant. The eggs hatch in 9-14 days and the caterpillars eat leaves. The cocoon is spun in the outer part of the host plant and is attached to a twig by only one-half its length.

Flight: One brood from January-July depending on altitude and seasonal variation.

Caterpillar Hosts: A wide range of plants including buckbrush (Ceanothus), manzanita (Arctostaphylos), gooseberry (Ribes), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), willows (Salix), alder (Alnus), and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides).

Adult Food: Adults do not feed.

Habitat: A wide variety of habitats including coastal areas, chaparral, and conifer forests.

Range: British Columbia east to western Montana, south through Washington, western Oregon, and California to Baja California Sur.

Conservation: Not usually required.

NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management Needs: None reported.

Taxonomy Notes:

Images of Hyalophora euryalus

Click on an image to view full size and to see additional details.

The map below displays all BAMONA data for this species and has three different data layers:
1. All records (yellow dots) 2. Recently verified records (orange dots)* 3. US county records (purple)

There are also three base layers: 1. Satellite 2. Normal 3. Hybrid

How to use the map:
Click on the map and move your mouse to pan.
Zoom by using the plus [+] and minus [-] on the left side of the map.
To change which map layers are displayed, click on the plus sign [+] on the right side of the map and turn on/off the data layers and base layers.

*The orange dots on the map provide access to information about the 400 most recently verified sightings of this species. Sometimes, there are several records at the same location. Use the table view to access these records.