Hyalophora cecropia
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(Linnaeus, 1758) Phalaena Bombyx cecropia

Hyalophora cecropia female (prominent white bands), Malay Falls, Nova Scotia,
late June 2010, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse.

Derek writes, "Here's a picture of the Malay Falls, Nova Scotia, female with the abberrant white PM band. She is quite striking when compared to other "normal" cecropia."

Derek and I were on our annual collecting trip in Malay Falls when he captured the large, beautiful female above at our mercury vapour lamps. Luna, polyphemus, cecropia, columbia, rubricunda and virginiensis, the six Saturniidae known from Nova Scotia, are all quite common in that area, and we frequently get some exceptional specimens at the lights.

The reduced red banding and the exceptionally dark hindwing submarginal area helped bring our visual focus to the white banding. The female is quite different from the male, below, from the same area. He has an unusally wide hindwing submarginal red band. These variations are not gender specific.

Hyalophora cecropia male (prominent red bands), Malay Falls, Nova Scotia,
late June 2010, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse.

The same male is depicted below, followed by a male with more typical red and white banding from the same area. We have also seen natural hybrid males of cecropia x columbia in the Malay Falls. They tend to be significantly smaller, with red banding greatly reduced on all wings.

Hyalophora cecropia males, Malay Falls, Nova scotia,
June 2010, courtesy of Derek Bridgehouse.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Attacini Genus: Hyalophora Duncan, 1841

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