One of the two largest Catocala throughout the Rocky Mountains and western states (the other being ilia) whose mature larvae are readily identifiable. The head capsule of aholibah sports a large, broad, cleanly-edged black "headband" on/above the vertex that does not extend down the sides, and limited darker markings concentrated in the central portion of the face which are often reduced to a well defined dot. Ground color usually gray brown but variable; lateral filaments long and unbranched; belly bright white, with prominent black spots on A3-A6 only, which are highlighted by orangish brown.