Saturnia pyri
Saturnia pyri
Written by Saturday, 04 December 2010 00:00
Classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Saturniidae
- Genus: Saturnia
- Species: Saturnia pyri
The full binomial name of this butterfly is Saturnia pyri which litterally means (in Italian) “Saturnia del Pero”. This moth is also known as “Occhio di Pavone” (Peacock's eye) because of the brown marks, one on each wing, resembling the eyes of a peacock.
Common names: Great Peacock Moth, Giant Emperor Moth or Viennese Emperor; Fr: Grand paon de nuit.
Range: Saturnia pyri lives in the Iberian Peninsula, southern France and Italy stretching to Siberia and north Africa as well. It does not appear in the UK.
Caterpillars of Saturnia pyri – also big on their own - feed on apple and pear trees (mostly the latter) hence this moth is more easily found where those trees occur in large numbers. Once the caterpillar turns into a grown-up insect – after a long period of dormancy - it dies within hours (at most a day) of starvation. This is due to the fact that it has an atrophic mouth. The only thing it does is it mates and lays eggs.
Adult specimens are large, heavy, somewhat “hairy” insects showing – beyond a mouth reduced in functionality - lobed wings with hind and forewings overlapping in a unique, continuous, wing surface. Many of these moths (not the Saturnia pyri) are extremely colourful and often, as is the case with Saturnia pyri, have “dummy eyes” / ”eyespots” on their wings.
Most members of the family are fairly large moths. The largest species in this category is Attacus atlas, a species from Far East Asia (Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia) which reaches 12’’ / 30 cm! Adult females are generally larger than the males and can reach 17cm. This means that the family Saturnidae contains some of the largest living insects of our times.
Other: The Saturniidae (commonly saturniids), are huge highly spectacular moths, belonging to the Lepidoptera family that counts, worldwide, up to 1.500 described species.
Jean Henry Fabre (1823 – 1915, French naturalist and entomologist) performed in 19th century what has to be considered the first test to demonstrate the power of pheromones. He placed a Saturnia pyri female in a small cage and subsequently managed to count up to forty males approaching the cage in a single night.
Photo by the author.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|