This image shows a female cecropia on the left, a male hybrid in the middle and a male euryalis on the right.
They are shown at their relative sizes.

This series of photos shows the hybrid caterpillar from newly hatched to full grown.
The 3rd instar caterpillar, missing from this series, is very similar to the 4th instar caterpillar.
These caterpillars were fed on Ceanothus and spun cocoons with a beautiful gold sheen.
Hybrids fed on other plants spun dull cocoons.
The photo gives some idea of the golden color.

This photo shows an adult male a few hours after eclosure.
All the moths were very similar but varied in the amount of red on the wings.
Some were more gray like cecropia.

Rearing of Hyalophera cecropia (and others species from the genus):

Specific experience:

H. columbia - from wild livestock obtained from Sheridan,Wyoming (leg. Mr. Duke Downing of Sheridan, WY)

H. euryalis - from wild livestock obtained from Monterey, California (leg. Mr. Paul Beard of Pacific Grove, CA)

I successfully reared several 100's of both columbia and euryalis (and cross bred pairs) while living at Cambridge University England in 1976-1977. The folks at the botanical garden were gracious enough to let me take cuttings from their HUGE specimen of Ceanothus californica (California Lilac)... Threafter, I tried every imaginable food source - losing many ex-ova larvae to starvation. The miracle foodplant (the larvae from both species LOVED it) = Salix viminalis (one of the most common willows in Europe).

I transported about 2000 H. columbia and H. euralis from the U.K. to complete the rearing in southern France (84 - Vaucluse) using the same food plant there. I placed muslin sleeves over outdoor plants in full sun (warm, dry climate). By the end of the summer I had approximately 500 surviors that I sold to a livestock dealer in the Canary Islands and to the Butterfy Farm in England. I also provided free specimens to the "Field Museum" in Chicago, of the cross specific individuals (which, at the time - they said no one had ever successfully bred before -- according to their records).

I've reared many H. cecropia (as a child & teenager in Illinois and Wisconsin). My collection of Butterflies and Moths is up to about 15000 specimens from around the world. Now days I'm doing essentially photography only (no collection of living specimens). - R.C. Kuhmann

Contributors: Robert Kuhmann; Mark Boddington; David Lacey; Ian Mascall; Malcolm Spurrell; Chuck Vaughn; William Oehlke
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Last updated 14-October-2005

Hyalophora cecropia X Hyalophora euryalis - Hybrid