The Columbia Moth, Hyalophora columbia

Hyalophora columbia columbia
hye-uh-lah-FOR-uhMkuh-LUM-bee-uh
(S. I. Smith, 1865) Samia columbia


Hyalophora columbia columbia moth courtesy of Leroy Simon.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 or
Attacinae, Blanchard,1840
Tribe: Attacini, Blanchard, 1841
Genus: Hyalophora, Duncan, 1841

DISTRIBUTION:

The Columbia Moth (Hyalophora columbia columbia) is found in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, and in southern parts of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. In the U.S., these moths are found in the border states of Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Lydia Wright confirms their presence in Paul Smiths in the Adirondacks of northern New York. To my knowledge, Hyalophora columbia columbia had not been previously reported on P.E.I., but I did take four females at lights in Montague, P.E.I., on June 13 and 14, 1998, and also in early June of 1999.

I have also watched wild males come in to calling females here on P.E.I. between 5:00 and 6:00 am. in 2000. I have been taking them regularly ever since, and find them relatively easy to rear here on both tamarack/juniper/larch and also on pin cherry. Here on PEI I have had wild males respond to calling females as late as early July.

Hyalophora columbia columbia male, courtesy of Darrell Gulin.

In the wild caterpillars of this species feed almost exclusively on larch (Larix laricina)

Although quite similar to cecropia in appearance, this species is smaller and lacks the red banding in both the fore and hind wings typical of cecropia.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Like all Hyalophora species, columbia columbia is univoltine and usually flies from May to early June depending on spring time warmth.

I have seen female moths at lights in coastal New Brunswick as late as mid July. I have also seen wild males on PEI as late as early July.

Female moths are taken at lights after 10:30 pm, but males, which also come in to lights, are rarely seen because they usually don't fly until just before dawn and will fly away or be eaten by birds as the sun rises.

ECLOSION:


Photo by Dan MacKinnon for Bill Oehlke

Adults usually emerge through a valved-cocoon in mid-morning and must hang to inflate wings properly. However, I have had moths eclose at 3:30 pm and mate the following morning.

I am fascinated by the silver and gold striations (resembling larch bark and dry needles) that caterpillars are able to weave into the cocoons.

Hyalophora columbia columbia female, courtesy of Darrell Gulin.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females "call" males from 3:30 am until dawn by emitting an airbourne pheromone. The mated pair usually remain coupled until the following evening. A recent expedition to Nova Scotia (1997) near the end of June resulted in nine males being captured at four different light sources over two nights. None of the males were around at 1:30 am when I retired, and a tenth flew away when the lights (mercury vapour and black) were checked just prior to dawn.

On June 23, 2000 I actually watched wild males fly in to a caged female in Valleyfield, P.E.I. where there is an abundance of larch. The female started calling shortly after 5:00 am and males arrived within ten minutes. Generally in mid to late July the females start calling here between 4:30 and 4:45 am (updated February 2009).

John Christensen has had success with an Hyalophora columbia columbia pairing in Michigan.

Hyalophora columbia columbia in copula, May 18, 2015,
PEI stock courtesy of John Christensen. PEI stock


Photo by Dan MacKinnon for Bill Oehlke

Sometimes columbia columbia males will fly in to a female cecropia that is still calling just prior to dawn, not having mated through the night.
Subsequent caterpillars, fed on larch, spin the hybrid-type cocoon between the normal cecropia cocoon (left) and the columbia columbia cocoon (right). Male adults from this cross will be sexually viable, but females will be sterile.

Both males and females of the cecropia x columbia columbia hybrids emerged in June of 1998, looking very much like large columbia. One male mated with a female cecropia and eggs hatched, June 26, and were be fed on larch. All larvae from this back cross subsequently succombed to disease. A female hybrid scented and mated but did not deposit any eggs. A subsequent dissection revealed no ova inside the body cavity.

For those who wish to rear this species, the smaller, lighter cocoons tend to be males and they typically emerge two to three days before the females in the larger, heavier cocoons. I overwinter columbia columbia cocoons in lidded waxed cardboard boxes in my refigerator crisper.

For many years now I have been overwintering my Saturniidae cocoons in sandwich sized plastic tubs, similar to tupperware tubs. The tubs have tight fitting snap on lids with no ventilation. I typically fill the tubs with breeding stock in late October to early November, and put the tubs in one of the refrigerator crisper compartments (not the freezer, please!) at that time. I have never misted cocoons, at least not during the last ten years, and I have not had any problems. I wrap naked Ceratocampinae and Sphingidae pupae in toilet tissue and store them in same type of tubs, although with the naked pupae, I usually put a layer of a folded paper towel (unscented) in the bottom of said tubs, moisten it with just a few drips of water. I then install a layer of small-bubble bubble-wrap, covered by another paper towels, and the wrapped naked pupae set on top of the upper paper towel.

No misting or freezing is required.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Female moths lay single eggs (sometimes a pair) near the base of the larch needles. Incubation can take anywhere from 8-19 days, depending on temperature.

Columbia columbia larvae are solitary from time of emergence.

Columbia columbia larvae are very similar to cecropia and other Hyalophora species but may be distinguished by three pairs of enlarged red thoracic tubercles. Cecropia have but two pairs of red-orange enlarged dorsal, thoracic scoli.

Scan of fifth instar larva on larch by Bill Oehlke.

Cocoons are compact and usually woven longitudinally against a branch or trunk from 6-15 feet above the ground. The cocoons have gold and silvery striations resembling the larch bark. Pupae tend to have little room within a smooth, denser inner cocoon.

Thibaud Decaens has recently sent me images:

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Larix laricina ........ Larch/Tamarack

Abies balsamea....... Balsam fir
Kalmia augustifolia..... Narrow-leaved laurel
Myrica pensylvanica..... Northern bayberry
Nemopanthus mucronata..... Catberry
Picea glauca ......... White spruce
Picea marina ....... Black spruce
Prunus cerasus ....... Sour cherry
Prunus domestica ........ Garden plum
Prunus pensylvanica...... Pin cherry
Prunus serotina ........ Wild black cherry
Prunus virginiana ........ Chokecherry
Pseudotsuga menziesii ....... Douglas-fir
Rhododendron canadense .... Azalea
Salix alba .......... European white willow
Spiraea tomentosa ....... Hardhack
Tsuga canadensis ....... Eastern hemlock
Ulmus ................. Elm

Return to Hyalophora Genus

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On Friday night, June 24, 2011, I was with a fellow collector/friend, Derek Bridgehouse, in Malay Falls, Nova Scotia. Temperatures dropped to 7 C or 44-45F.

We have been having an exceptionally cold, wet spring in Atlantic Canada.

My friend Derek has a keen interest in Hyalophora species. He had earlier eclosions of female Hyalophora columbia and he kept the adult females refrigerated for approximately two weeks so he would have them live to call in male columbia for our planned trip to Malay Falls. Derek also had a refrigerated female cecropia.

Wild male cecropia began responding to the female cecropia shortly after 9:30 pm and were showing up almost to midnight when we retired.

The area has very healthy luna, rubicunda, polyphemus populations as well as the two Hyalophora species. We have been making annual trips to this location in late June for the last 13-14 years. This year we saw no luna or polyphemus. I think it was just too cold. A few rubicunda males showed up at the lights and there was one male each of the following Sphingidae: Ceratomia undulosa, Lapara coniferarum, Paonias excaecata, and Pachysphinx modesta. Usually we see those species and lots of Sphinx kalmiae, Sphinx poecila, Darapsa choerilus, and sometimes Sphinx drupiferarum males and females. I guess it was too cold for them too this Friday night.

We arose just prior to 4:00 am to check the lights and the calling females which were in cages inaccessible to males.

Already at the lights were two male columbia, and six to eight additional male columbia flew in between 4:00 and 5:30 am when we went back to bed.

Male columbia are seldom seen in collections because they are seldom seen at lights. The calling time of the females is at dawn. Females do come to lights, but not as frequently as females of some other Saturniidae species.

One of the female columbia that had been refrigerated for approximately two weeks was calling. We do not know if the male columbia were responding to her or to the female cecropia which was also calling.

I started going to Malay Falls for the specific reason of getting columbia stock for breeding. A couple of years later I was surprised to find there are local populations right here on PEI. Now I just go mostly for the friendship, and of course to get some eggs of various Saturniidae and Sphingidae species which are usually plentiful.

When I had enquired about Saturniidae on PEI many years ago at the university, there were no records at UPEI for columbia, so I had just assumed they were not here.

I write this extensive note for several reasons:
1) there are often undocumented species present in an area (recent 2011 report in Minnesota south of known range: Chisago County, MN, near the Taylors Falls (MN)/St.Croix Falls (WI) area around 45 min north of the Twin Cities), especially an area that is not well collected. Species such as columbia, where males have an "unusual" flight time, often go undetected.
2) unmated female columbia and cecropia often go much longer than females of other species before dumping unfertilized eggs.
I obtained two pairings this year, one with a five day old non-refrigerated female and one with a four day old non-refrigerated female. Althought they were non-refirigerated, they might as well have been as the outside night and dawn temperatures were in the 40's F.
3) refrigerating females can greatly increase their lifespan and does not seem to impede their ability to call once they have been "warmed" or are at least exposed to temps above 45 F.
4) Male cecropia and columbia will respond to calling females at temps as low as 44-45 F.

One year in Malay Falls we must have hit a peak flight as we save over fifty male columbia at dawn at our light stand where we had caged females, inaccessable to the males. Almost always the males were called in by the pheromone, but when they got close to the females, the attraction to the lights was even stronger and they ended up on the sheets.

Derek Bridgehouse sends the following images of Hyalophora colombia, collected in Malay Falls, Nova Scotia.

Hyalophora columbia male, Malay Falls, Nova Scotia,
June 26, 2016, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse.

Hyalophora columbia male, Malay Falls, Nova Scotia,
June 26, 2016, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse.

Derek writes, "Thought you might like to see these 2 Columbia phenotypes from Malay Falls this past June 2016."

They seem to be quite dark, with interesting variation in the thickness and contour of the grey-white lines.

Derek often uses caged females to call in wild males. One of our collecting sites was on a slight projection into a lake and it was fun to watch the wild males fly in over the lake at dawn. We set the alarm clock for 4:15 am just to watch the males approach flights. Some would land on the light sheets; some would hover around the cages. Derek snatched many out of the air with his net.