Hyalophora cecropia Aberrations

Derek Bridgehouse, for as long as I have known him, has had a keen interest in Hyalophora species. He makes a great effort to examine all the specimens (Hyalophora columbia columbia, Hyalophora cecropia and natural hybrids of those two species) that come in to our lights or respond to calling Hyalophora females when we make our annual collecting trip to Malay Falls, Nova Scotia, in June. Below are two aberrant males that were taken from the afore-mentioned location.

Hyalophora cecropia aberration, Malay Falls, Halifax County, Nova Scotia,
June 28, 2008, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse

Hyalophora cecropia aberration, Malay Falls, Halifax County, Nova Scotia,
June 27, 2010, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse

As a youngster I was an avid tropical fish hobbyist. I was fascinated by some of the results that could be produced through selective breeding procedures and/or hormone enriched diets with guppies and other fish species. I have seen cecropia with very tiny forewing cell markings, with greatly enlarged white banding width, with greatly enlarged red banding width, and with greatly differing degrees of red suffusions in the basal median areas of the forewings. I have often wondered what one could do with Saturniidae by practicing selective breeding techniques, especially with species that had many broods each year.

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