Saturniidae of Sicily

Male Saturnia pyri. Photo courtesy of Leroy Simon.

Two saturniidae species are generally listed for Sicily, regarded as an autonomous region of Italy.

Saturnia pyri

I am pretty sure that Saturnia ligurica is now regarded as a variant of Saturnia pavoniella rather than as a distinct species or a subspecies of pavonia.

Barely separated from the "toe" of southwestern Italy, triangle-shaped, mountainous Sicily is the second largest island in the western Mediterranean.

Sicily's climate, while lacking real extremes, is not without considerable regional and seasonal variations - temperatures on the east, north and west coasts for example are milder than those in the south and in the largely treeless interior.

Precipitation is virtually non-existent from June to September when the first, mainly thundery, rains tend to occur. The wet season proper lasts from October to May with November experiencing the most rainfall.

The mean temperature in January is 11°C/52°F (Palermo 11°C/52°F, Taormina 15°C/59°F) and in July 27°C/81°F. In July and August winds from Africa can bring temperatures of 40°C/104°F. Palermo averages 98 days of sunshine a year, Taormina 130 days and Syracuse 133 days.

On the other hand some locations in the Monti Madonie offer winter sports facilities and at higher altitudes on Etna winter in effect lasts half the year.

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, with both species being single-brooded.

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