Denver-Boulder Metro Area: Butterflies and Moths
This guide contains butterflies and moths that can be found in the Denver-Boulder Metro Area, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties.
Achemon Sphinx
The Achemon sphinx (Eumorpha achemon) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is native to North America, where it is known from most of the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. It is rare or absent in the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin, and Southeastern United States except Florida.
Juanita Sphinx Moth
The Juanita Sphinx (Proserpinus juanita) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from North Dakota south to Arizona and east to Missouri and Texas.
Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth
Hyles euphorbiae (spurge hawk-moth) is a European moth of the family Sphingidae. This hawk moth is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed known as leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), but usually only in conjunction with other agents. The larvae consume the leaves and bracts of the plant.
Bedstraw Hawkmoth
Hyles gallii (bedstraw hawk-moth, galium sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae.
White-lined Sphinx
The White-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. Its range extends from Central America, through the United States and into parts of Canada.
Snowberry Clearwing
The Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) is a moth of the order Lepidoptera, family Sphingidae.
Rocky Mountain Clearwing
The Rocky Mountain clearwing or California Clearwing (Hemaris thetis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah west to California and north to British Columbia. The habitat consists of streamsides and meadows in mountainous areas.
Five-spotted Hawk Moth
Manduca quinquemaculata, the five-spotted hawkmoth, is a brown and gray hawk moth of the family Sphingidae. The caterpillar, often referred to as the tomato hornworm, can be a major pest in gardens; they get their name from a dark projection on their posterior end and their use of tomatoes as host plants. Tomato hornworms are closely related to (and sometimes ...more ↓
Carolina Sphinx
Manduca sexta is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the American continent. Commonly known as the tobacco hornworm and the goliath worm, it is closely related to and often confused with the very similar tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata); the larvae of both feed on the foliage of various plants of the family Solanaceae. The ...more ↓
Asella Sphinx
The Asellus Sphinx Moth (Sphinx asellus) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from pinyon-juniper woodland and similar arid areas in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, extreme south-western Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico and south-western Texas.
Great Ash Sphinx
The Great Ash Sphinx or Northern Ash Sphinx (Sphinx chersis) is a moth that belongs to the family Sphingidae.
Wild Cherry Sphinx
The Wild Cherry Sphinx (Sphinx drupiferarum) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from the temperate parts of the United States to southern Canada.
Vashti Sphinx Moth
The Vashti Sphinx (Sphinx vashti) is a member of the Sphingidae family of moths. It is found from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, central Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas.
Apple Sphinx
The Apple Sphinx (Sphinx gordius) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in the northern parts of the United States and southern Canada, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, additionally it is found along the east coast to Florida and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado.
Elm Sphinx
The Elm sphinx, (Ceratomia amyntor), sometimes called the Four-horned Sphinx, is a North American species of moth in the Sphingidae family. It has a wingspan of 3¼ - 4½ inches (8.2 - 11.5 cm). As the name suggests, the larvae (caterpillars) feed on elm trees (Ulmus), but they can also be found feeding on birch (Betula), basswood (Tilia), and cherry ...more ↓
Waved Sphinx
The Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in the United States, and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains.
One-eyed Sphinx
Smerinthus cerisyi (one-eyed sphinx or Cerisy's sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from south-eastern Alaska, the southern parts of all Canadian provinces and in the northern border states of the United States south into northern Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio and along the west coast to southern California, eastward to the Rocky Mountains and ...more ↓
Twin-spotted Sphinx
The Twin-spotted Sphinx (Smerinthus jamaicensis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is widely distributed across North America and is found everywhere except in the southern half of western California. It has been taken as far north as the Yukon.
Modest Sphinx
The Modest Sphinx or Poplar Sphinx (Pachysphinx modesta) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It ranges from the southern United States up and throughout Canada.
Western Poplar Sphinx
The Big Poplar Sphinx (Pachysphinx occidentalis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It lives throughout Canada and the United States. The habitat consists of riparian areas and suburbs.
Blinded Sphinx
The Blinded Sphinx (Paonias excaecatus) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and across the rest of Canada all the way to British Columbia. In the United States it ranges south to Florida in the east, and westward to eastern California and as far south as central Texas.
Small-eyed Sphinx
The Small-eyed Sphinx (Paonias myops) is a species of moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from south-eastern Canada to Florida and westward almost to the Pacific Coast. It is also known from Mexico.
Cecropia Moth
The Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia) is North America's largest native moth. It is a member of the Saturniidae family, or giant silk moths. Females with a wingspan of six inches (160 mm) or more have been documented. It is found as far west as the Rocky Mountains and north into the majority of Canadian provinces. The larvae of these moths are most commonly found on ...more ↓
Columbia Silk Moth
The Columbia Silkmoth or Larch Silkmoth (Hyalophora columbia) is a moth of the Saturniidae family. In the east it is found from Quebec and Ontario to Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and south-eastern Manitoba. In the west it is found from Alberta and Montana south through the Rocky Mountains to south-western Texas and into central Mexico. Glover's Silkmoth, ...more ↓
Polyphemus Moth
The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths. It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 inches). The most notable feature of the moth is its large, purplish eyespots on its two hindwings. The eye spots are where it gets its name – from the Greek myth of the Cyclops Polyphemus. ...more ↓
Coloradia doris
Coloradia doris or Doris' pinemoth, is a species of moth in the family Saturniidae ("giant silkworm and royal moths"), in the superfamily Bombycoidea ("silkworm, sphinx, and royal moths"). The species was described by William Barnes in 1900. It is found in North America.
Pandora Pinemoth
The Pandora Pinemoth or Pandora Moth, Coloradia pandora, is an insect belonging to the Coloradia genus of moths. It is native to the western United States. The larvae of the Pandora Moth feed on the foliage of several species of pine trees, including the lodgepole, Jeffrey, and ponderosa pines. The larvae populations sometimes reach high enough levels to cause ...more ↓
Western Sheep Moth
The sheep moth, or common sheep moth (Hemileuca eglanterina), is a member of the Saturniidae family of silk moths and is native to California west of the Sierran crest and the mountains of Southern California ranging near to the coast. The moth is dayflying and appears in summer. It feeds on plants of three genera: Ceanothus, Rhamnus (including ...more ↓
Io Moth
The Io Moth (Automeris io) is a very colorful North American moth in the Saturniidae family. It ranges from the southeast corner of Manitoba and in the southern extremes of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick in Canada, and in the US it is found from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, east of those states and down to the ...more ↓
