Some variety of Saturniid Rothschildia?
March 1, 2010
I am currently visiting La Plata, Argentina and I saw this moth on a tree in the city. The photo was taken on February 14, 2010. I wish I’d thought to include something in the photo to use as a size reference, but if I had to guess, I’d say its wingspan was about 4″ across.
I think I looked through every one of your silk moth photos looking for the exact type and I also checked other resources (wikipedia.org, http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/kirbywolfe.htm, and others), but no luck yet.
Based on what I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure it’s some species of Saturniid Rothschildia, but none of the ones I’ve found seem quite right. There’s always one thing or another that’s different (shape of wings, shape/size/placement/orientation of markings, etc.).
I see that there are over 100 species of Rothschildia moths (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschildia), so this may be quite a challenge.
Here’s a (tinyurl) link to Google maps of within about 200 ft. of the exact location of the moth siting: http://tinyurl.com/yarg65c.
Hopefully someone will recognize it.
Thanks!! }Ж{
Suzanne, visiting from Austin, TX
La Plata, Argentina
Hi Suzanne,
There are at least nine species in the genus Rothschildia found in Argentina, and many look quite similar. We believe this is Rothschildia jacobaeae which can be viewed at http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/tdjacobaeae.htm and interestingly, the species used on the Wikipedia page. We will contact an expert, Bill Oehlke to see if he agrees with this identification.
Bill Oehlke confirms Identification
Daniel,
Yes, it is jacobaeae. I have contacted Suzanne, Thanks. She had also contacted me directly.
Bill Oehlke