DISTRIBUTION:

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana flies in Mexico: Yucatan and Quintana Roo, and in Belize: Corozol and Belize.

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana belongs to a group of four species: lebeau, cincta, prionia, paucidentata. All four species lack white scales on the outer margin of the hindwings. In lebeau the postmedian line is straight and only slightly dentate and irregularly waved in the area between the costa and the outer angle of the hyaline spot.

This is a smaller subspecies with less elongate wings and there is alwasy some white scaling in the forewing outer margin. The forewing postmedial line also tends to be broad and crenulate.

Rothschilida lebeau yucatana, Ria Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico,
September 29, 2011, courtesy of Paul Koelstra,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke

Rothschilida lebeau yucatana verso, Ria Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico,
September 29, 2011, courtesy of Paul Koelstra,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Paul Koelstra writes, "Last week I saw my first Saturniidae; it was flying low above the ground when a car crashed into it."

My first suggestion to Paul was the car-hit specimen is Rothschildia roxana, but upon placing the images on the roxana page, I noticed quite a few differences from the other roxana specimens.

Now, despite the very straight white pm line, I think the specimen is much more likely Rothschildia lebeau yucatana.

I was asked by Daniel Marlos of What's That Bug? for some id assistance for the specimen from Yucatan, Mexico, to the right. My best guess in a tentative id attempt is Rothscildia lebeau yucatana. The image was sent to Daniel by an anonymous photographer with "Ranaman" handle. Both Daniel and I tried to contact Ranaman for permission to use image, but the email address provided was not valid.

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana male, Yucatan, Mexico, August 22, 2012.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This species will probably accept Ligustrum (privet), lilac, ailanthus and oak.

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana Mexico courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel and Viktor Suter.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Like most of the Rothschildia, except for the diurnal zacateca, this species calls and pairs at night.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

There are both inner and outer cocoons, each with a relatively long valve to facilitate eclosions.

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana larva on privet, courtesy of Rainer Plontke.

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana fifth instar larva on privet, courtesy of Rainer Plontke.

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Ailanthus altissima..... Ligustrum Quercus Syringa vulgaris

Ailanthus Privet Oak Common lilac

Rothschildia lebeau yucatana Mexico courtesy of Manuel Balcazar-Lara.

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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

The genus name "Rothschildia", is honourific for Rothschild.

The species name 'lebeau' is honourific for Dr. Lebeau.

The subspecies name 'yucatana' is for the geographic range, including the Yucatan peninsula.