DISTRIBUTION:

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana (wingspan: males: mm; females: // Mfwl: 61-67mm; Ffwl: 68-71mm) flies in
Ecuador: Esmeraldas; Pichincha; at elevations of m.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Cherry is probably the prefered hostplant for captive rearing.

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana male, San Lorenzo, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
April 18, 2007, 0m = sea level, courtesy of Roger Ahlman, id by Bill Oehlke.

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana male, Los Bancos, Pichincha Province, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana male (verso), Los Bancos, Pichincha Province, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana pair, Los Bancos, Pichincha Province, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana female, Los Bancos, Pichincha Province, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana female (verso), Los Bancos, Pichincha Province, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana female courtesy of Steve Ife.

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana female courtesy of Steve Ife.

Rothschildia lebecuatoriana larva on privet, courtesy of Steve Ife.

Steve reared the female depicted above from eggs from a female (January 15, 2007) from Santa Domingo Des los Colorados, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. The first female emerged April 13, 2007.

Steve reared the larvae indoors on privet.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Larvae probably do best on Prunus. They also probably take Ailanthus quite readily but grow slowly on privet.

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..... Ligustrum Prunus

Ailanthus Privet Cherry

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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 lebecuatoriana is indicative of a specimen type locale in western Ecuador (and possibly western Colombia), and a great similarity to Rothschildia lebeau.