Saturniidae of Sardinia

West of central Italy, Sardinia is the largest island in the western Mediterranean. The eastern coasts are especially rugged.

Although there are very few high mountains, Sardinia is characterized by much-eroded high plains and plateaux and by steep and abrupt slopes. About twenty percent of the island consists of low-lying plains with adjacent terraces to about 200 meters above sea level.

The coastal region of the southwest (Sulcis) and the southern 25 km of the Campidano are plagued by a semi-arid subtropical climate, with less than 500 mm of rainfall per year. Except for two small, moist regions with more than 1100 mm of rainfall per year, much of the remainder of the island is temperate to warm, with 500 to 800 mm of rainfall per year and an average annual temperature of 15° to 16.9° C. The remainder is sub-humid, with average temperatures of 11° to 15° C. and 800 to 1200 mm of rainfall per year.

Sardinia suffers from widespread aridity in the summer, especially in the south.

About sixty percent of the island's surface is covered with brown soils that support deciduous forest cover.

I suspect Saturnia pavoniella would be on the wing from February-April, and the much larger Saturnia pyri would be on the wing in April-May, both species being single-brooded.

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