DISTRIBUTION:

Rothschildia lutea, flies in
Paraguay: Alto Parana, Guaira, (Neembucu (AOC)), (Amambay: La Nina (SR));
Brazil: southern Mato Grosso, Parana (CM); and
Argentina: Misiones, possibly as far west as Rincon, Santa Fe.

Rothschildia lutea, male, La Nina, Amambay, Paraguay,
February 18, 2002, courtesy of Sergio Rios, id to species level by Ulf Dreschel.

Based on successful rearing and a paper published in September 2009, the moth previously assigned as a subspecies of R. hesperus has been elevated to full species status as Rothschildia lutea. The eggs-larvae of a captured female were reared through to adulthood by Andres Oscar Contreras. The larvae are very different from nominate Rothschildia hesperus so lutea has been elevated to full species status.

Rothschildia lutea male, Rincon, Santa Fe, Argentina,
112mm, 80m, December 13, 2010, courtesy of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lutea male (verso), Rincon, Santa Fe, Argentina,
112mm, 80m, December 13, 2010, courtesy of Nigel Venters.

This is the smallest and dullest of the three subspecies, but ground colour can vary considerably. Forewing hyaline spots do not connect medial lines. In the hindwing, the hyaline spot usually touches the postmedial line.

Rothschildia lutea, Camba Cua, Pilar, Neembucu, Paraguay,
courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras, tentative id by Bill Oehlke
Encargado del Área de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Pilar, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea, female, Camba Cua, Pilar, Neembucu, Paraguay,
courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras, tentative id by Bill Oehlke
Encargado del Área de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Pilar, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea, female, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Sergio Rios reports a February flight in La Nina, Amambay, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea male, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel.

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

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

Females come to lights between 11:00 pm and 1:00 am; males are on the wing from 11:30 pm until 3:00 am.

Rothschildia lutea male, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

It is interesting to watch Rothschildia fashion their cocoons. A strong peduncle with a few support silk strands secures the structure while the larva continues "padding its nest" with a continuous back-and-forth movement of the head.

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

Rothschildia lutea cocoon on Croton urucurana, Paraguay,
courtesy of Ulf Drechsel, PYBIO.

I now believe (June 2008) my tentative identifications of the larvae below may be in error. I have compared them to larvae of the nominate subspecies, R. h. hesperus and other members of the hesperus group and they do not seem a good match.

The larva seem much closer to the R. erycina group with the orange colouration and abdominal scoli. The erycina group includes erycina, hopfferi and belus, but not hesperus.

R. erycina seems unlikely for the area. R. hopfferi might be a better choice. I cannot rule out R. belus. I have no images of larvae of belus to examine, and Lemaire only reports belus from southeastern Brazil.

The larvae do not seem a perfect match for known hopfferi, but they are pretty close and may be just a different variation or an earlier instar. I would not be totally surprised, however, if an R. belus hatched from the cocoon of one of these larvae. I do not know if the larva of belus has ever been described. I am hoping to receive images of the moths for positive identification.

Help would be much appreciated: Bill Oehlke.

Andres Oscar Contreras has published a paper elevating Rothschidia lutea to full species status. The moths that emerged from the larvae depicted below proved to be the species previously known as Rothschildia hesperus lutea, but the larvae are completely different from the hesperus group so R. lutea now has full species status.

Many thanks to Andres. O. Contreras. My doubts about them being related to hesperus have been eliminated (October 2009).

Rothschildia lutea, immature instar, Camba Cua, Pilar, Neembucu, Paraguay,
courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras, tentative id by Bill Oehlke (not belus or hopfferi)
Encargado del Área de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Pilar, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea, third-fourth instar, Camba Cua, Pilar, Neembucu, Paraguay,
courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras, tentative id by Bill Oehlke (not belus or hopfferi)
Encargado del Área de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Pilar, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea, fifth instar, Camba Cua, Pilar, Neembucu, Paraguay,
courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras, tentative id by Bill Oehlke (not belus or hopfferi)
Encargado del Área de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Pilar, Paraguay.

Rothschildia lutea, fourth or fifth instar, Itapua, Paraguay, (not belus or hopfferi)
December 10, 2007, courtesy of Paul Smith and Fauna Paraguay, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Larval Food Plants

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..... Croton urucurana Ligustrum Quercus Syringa vulgaris

Ailanthus Croton urucurana Privet Oak Common lilac

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Rothschildia Index

The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion.

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

"Rothschildia" is chosen to honour one of the Rothschilds, possibly William.

The species name, hesperus, is the name for the planet Venus as the evening star.

The subspecies name, lutea, is for the lighter, yellowish-orange colouration of this moth.

Rothschildia lutea in Azariana courtesy of Andres Oscar Contreras Chialchia, on my home computer only.