SUBFAMILY SATURNINAE: TRIBE ATTACINI: GENUS ROTHSCHILDIA
Rothschildia are large, distinctive moths that rest with spread wings. They have short, fat bodies with prominent white bands and long, round-tipped wings featuring conspicuous large, rounded or triangular windows. Differences between species are subtle, concentrate on the size and shape of wing windows and whether they touch, cross or fall short of the submarginal lines. Note also the wing shape, bearing in mind that this varies between males and females of the same species.
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Gallery 1 Rothschildia arethusa arethusa
Distribution - Caaguazú, Canindeyú, Cordillera, Guairá, Ñeembucú, Paraguarí
Host Plants - Alianthus, Ligustrum, Quercus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Acacia, Allophylus, Amaranthus, Jacaranda, Lonicera, Pentapanax, Ricinus, Sapium (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 1a - Rothschildia arethusa male - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).
FIGURE 1b - Rothschildia arethusa male - specimen from, Departamento Paraguarí (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 1c - Rothschildia arethusa cocoon and prepual larva - Pilar, Departamento Ñeembucú (Paul Smith September 2007). - Tentative identification by Sergio Rios.
FIGURE 1d - Rothschildia arethusa larva instar 3 - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 1a

FIGURE 1a
FIGURE 1b

FIGURE 1b
FIGURE 1c

FIGURE 1c
FIGURE 1d

FIGURE 1d
Thanks to Bill Oehlke, Adriana Zapata and Ulf Drechsel for assistance with Emperor Moth identification.
Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on the page were provided by Paul Smith, Alison Lewis and Ulf Drechsel and are used with permission.
Special thanks to Ulf Drechsel for permission to use images from his site www.pybio.org.
Ulf is "el capo" of Saturniids in Paraguay and anybody with an interest in this group should check out his web page for additional information.
FIGURE 2a

FIGURE 2a
FIGURE 2b

FIGURE 2b
FIGURE 2c

FIGURE 2c
FIGURE 2d

FIGURE 2d
Gallery 2 Rothschildia aurota speculifera
Distribution - Alto Paraná. Caaguazú, Canindeyú, Cordillera, Guairá, Itapúa, Paraguarí
Host Plants - Cephalanthus, Citrus, Fraxinus, Ligustrum, Prunus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Baccharis, Citrus, Ilex, Lonicera, Manihot, Ocotea, Ricinus (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - 125mm (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site)
FIGURE 2a - Rothschildia aurota male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 2b - Rothschildia aurota male - Estancia Kanguery, Departamento Itapúa (Alison Lewis February 2010).
FIGURE 2c - Rothschildia aurota male - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).
FIGURE 2d - Rothschildia aurota larva instar 5 - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 4a

FIGURE 4a
FIGURE 4b

FIGURE 4b
FIGURE 4c

FIGURE 4c
FIGURE 4d

FIGURE 4d
FIGURE 4e

FIGURE 4e
FIGURE 4f

FIGURE 4f
FIGURE 4g

FIGURE 4g
FIGURE 4h

FIGURE 4h
FIGURE 4i

FIGURE 4i
FIGURE 4j

FIGURE 4j
FIGURE 4k

FIGURE 4k
FIGURE 3a

FIGURE 3a
FIGURE 3b

FIGURE 3b
FIGURE 3c

FIGURE 3c
FIGURE 3d

FIGURE 3d
Gallery 4 - Rothschildia hesperus lutea
Andres Contreras has proposed that this subspecies be raised to full species level on account of its distinctive larvae.
Distribution - Alto Paraná, Amambay, Guairá, Ñeembucú
Host Plants - Alianthus, Ligustrum, Quercus, Syringa, (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Alstroemeria, Anacardium, Bambusa, Carica, Casearia, Cephalanthus, Citrus, Fagara, Joannesia, Lonicera, Manihot, Prunus, Ricinus, Schinus, Senna, Spondias, Tecoma (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 4a - Rothschildia hesperus pair - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Andres Contreras August 2009).
FIGURE 4b - Rothschildia hesperus male - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Andres Contreras August 2009).
FIGURE 4c - Rothschildia hesperus female - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Andres Contreras August 2009).
FIGURE 4d - Rothschildia hesperus larva stage 2 - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4e - Rothschildia hesperus larva stage 3 - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4f - Rothschildia hesperus larva moulting stage 3 to 4 - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4g - Rothschildia hesperus larva stage 4 - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4h - Rothschildia hesperus larva stage 5 - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4i - Rothschildia hesperus cocoon - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4j - Rothschildia hesperus pupal details - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
FIGURE 4k - Rothschildia hesperus parasitised cocoon - IBIS Collection, University of Pilar (Paul Smith September 2007).
Thanks to Bill Oehlke and Ulf Drechsel for assistance with Emperor Moth identification.
Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on the page were provided by Paul Smith and Ulf Drechsel and are used with permission.
Special thanks to Ulf Drechsel for permission to use images from his site www.pybio.org.
Ulf is "el capo" of Saturniids in Paraguay and anybody with an interest in this group should check out his web page for additional information.
FIGURE 5a

FIGURE 5a
Gallery 5 Rothschildia hopfferi
Distribution - Alto Paraná, Caazapá, Guairá, Itapúa
Host Plants - Alianthus, Ligustrum, Prunus, Quercus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Croton, Jacaranda, Schinus, Spondias (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 5a - Rothschildia hopfferi male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 6a

FIGURE 6a
FIGURE 6b

FIGURE 6b
Gallery 6 Rothschildia jacobeae
Distribution - Alto Paraná, Canindeyú, Cordillera, Caaguazú, Guairá
Host Plants - Alianthus, Ligustrum, Quercus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Alchornea, Baccharis, Carica, Cephalanthus, Croton, Dodonea, Eupatorium, Ilex, Jacaranda,  Ligustrum, Manihot, Prunus, Sebastiana, Senecio, Sida, Tecoma (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 6a - Rothschildia jacobeae male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 6b - Rothschildia jacobeae - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).
FIGURE 7a

FIGURE 7a
Gallery 7 Rothschildia maurus
Distribution - Presidente Hayes, San Pedro
Host Plants - Ligustrum, Prunus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Croton, Jacaranda, Sapium, Schinus (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 7a - Rothschildia maurus male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
Gallery 8 Rothschildia schreiteriana
Distribution - Boquerón, Presidente Hayes
Host Plants - Alianthus, Ligustrum, Quercus, Syringa (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Croton, Jacaranda,  Sapium, Schinus, Vallesia (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 8a - Rothschildia schreiteriana male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 8b - Rothschildia schreiteriana - Museo Jakob Unger, Filadelfia (Paul Smith October 2008).
FIGURE 8a

FIGURE 8a
FIGURE 8b

FIGURE 8b
Gallery 3 Rothschildia erycina erycina
Distribution - Alto Paraná, Caaguazú, Caazapá, Canindeyú, Cordillera, Guairá, San Pedro
Host Plants - Ailanthus Coutarea, Exostema, Ligustrum (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site); Antonia, Cenostigma, Chiococca, Dodonea (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 3a - Rothschildia erycina male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 3b - Rothschildia erycina male - location unknown (Ulf Drechsel www.pybio.org).
FIGURE 3c - Rothschildia erycina female -  - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).
FIGURE 3e - Rothschildia erycina larva - Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Paul Smith May 2010).