This is Hyalophora columbia, the Columbia silk moth. Found in Burleigh County, North Dakota. It's similar to a cecropia moth, and is in the same genus, but based on color and pattern, this is definitely not a cecropia. See notes in photo for identification marks.
Cheryl Moorehead, NikonWitch, and 17 other people added this photo to their favorites.
+ Add
Matt Reinbold
Furryscaly
Member since 2006
Photo license:
Some rights reserved
zxgirl 47 months ago | reply
Fantastic great big moth! He's a beauty! Too bad his wing got nipped - I wonder if that was from a narrow escape?
NikonWitch 47 months ago | reply
I was wondering the same thing zxgirl.
This is a fantastic shot!
Fool-On-The-Hill 47 months ago | reply
Looks like a Cecropia moth to me See www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3281 It is not purple enough to be a Columbian. See www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3282
Arachnochap 47 months ago | reply
I am VERY impressed!
Furryscaly 47 months ago | reply
Make sure you're looking at the dorsal side of the wing, and not the ventral side, which is mostly what's visible in this shot. There is a lot of red on the inside of the postmedian line here. Cecropias are grey. I added notes. Also, your link displays a photo of Hyalophora columbia gloveri, the Glover's silk moth, a very purple subspecies, and is labeled as such in the photo. H. columbia is also red, but not quite as purple as H. columbia gloveri.
So basically I know my moth is Hyalophora, and that it isn't H. cecropia. I know that it's also not H. euryalus, which has red both before and after the PM line. I know that it looks like H. columbia, but that it could potentially be some other Hyalophora, depending on what they look like and where they live.
Mr & Mrs Apteryx australis 47 months ago | reply
H. cecropia typically has red shading just beyond the outer border of the PM line. That feature is lacking here, making this Hyalophora columbia - Columbia Silkmoth.
Furryscaly 47 months ago | reply
Thanks, Kiwi. I just wasn't sure if there were maybe more species of Hyalophora here than I was aware of. The only two in that genus that I'm familiar with are cecropias and columbians, but I don't know how many are native here.
Techuser 47 months ago | reply
Whatever species it is, its a prettie!
zweiblumen 46 months ago | reply
Seen In Beautiful Bugs!
Maggi_94 46 months ago | reply
Nice shot!
Great colour!
dame sol 46 months ago | reply
Très bonne photo!
Bravo!
Dendroica cerulea 30 months ago | reply
Beautiful shot!
Nexis 13 months ago | reply
I got a shot of the same looking moth and thought it was a cecropia: bit.ly/Kn7179. I guess it's not.
jack_246 2 weeks ago | reply
fantastic