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Hyalophora cecropia ("H. gloveri Blend Zone" ?)
roadside amongst free ranging cattle - nr. "Calamity", Custer County, South Dakota, USA
June 13, 2003

H. cecropia ("cecropia x gloveri blend zone" ??)
Coll. at lights
~3:00 am
Coll. S. Bailey

Moths from this area are often highly variable, some look like cecropia, some like gloveri, and others exhibit a range of intermediate traits. This moth is a bit unusual for typical cecropia and suspected of being a backcross (per. comm. & per. observ.)

For details on Hyalophora Hybrids & regions of introgression, refer to the following:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/522270

Denver (residential area above the city proper), Denver/Boulder? County, Colorado, USA
June 11, 2003

Collected at lights nr. gas station
11 June 2003
Coll. S.A.M. Bailey

Picture number 2 compares the "Denver cecropia" (left) with a H. gloveri (right) from Conifer, a few miles west of Denver.

This specimen of Colorado "cecropia moth" exhibits traits seen in both H. cecropia & gloveri and is very likely a HYBRID or backcross between the two. The distinctive red postmedial scaling is a trait typical and diagnostic of cecropia (not so for gloveri). Given locality, it would not be unlikely to encounter Hyalophora specimens with "cecropia/gloveri" influence - esp. since both taxa are known to occur in this area.

Hyalophora cecropia populations occupy suitable habitats across parts of eastern Colorado and extend to the Rockies where they are typically replaced by H. gloveri at higher elevations.

In the Denver area, H. cecropia has been collected on a number of occasions; however, whether cecropia moths are native locally or have been introduced into the Denver metro area is still in question.

For details on Hyalophora Hybrids & regions of introgression, refer to the following:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/522270