Saturniidae of Texas

Rothschildia lebeau (male) courtesy of Leroy Simon.

The following Saturniidae are found in Texas. They are grouped into respective subfamilies and tribes.

Clicking on a scientific name will take you to a page with pictures and information.

If you have additional information regarding flight times (listed below table) or additional species to add, please send email to oehlkew@islandtelecom.com

Ceratocampinae

Anisota oslari
Anisota senatoria
Anisota stigma
Anisota virginiensis
Citheronia regalis
Dryocampa rubicunda
Eacles imperialis
Sphing. albolineata
Sphingicampa bicolor
Sphingicampa bisecta
Sphing. blanchardi
Sphing. heiligbrodti
Sphing. hubbardi


Hemileucinae

Automeris io
Automeris louisiana
Automeris zephyria
Col. pandora davisi
Coloradia pandora
Hemil. chinatiensis
Hemileuca grotei
Hemileuca hera
Hemileuca juno
Hemileuca maia
Hemileuca oliviae
Hemileuca peigleri
Hemileuca slosseri


Saturniinae:
Attacini

Callosamia angulifera
Callosamia promethea
Eupackardia calleta
Hyalophora cecropia
H. columbia gloveri
Roth. lebeau forbesi








Saturniinae:
Saturniini

Actias luna
Agapema anona dyari
A. anona platensis
Agapema galbina
Agapema homogena
Agapema solita
Antheraea oculea
Anther. polyphemus





Actias luna: February, March, June, August-September; at least three broods, probably four or five in warmest areas.
John Buchanon from the Houston area sent me an image of a spring male, February 15, 2009.
Ron Votaw reports Actias luna flying in Yard, Comal County, Texas, March 10. A female that emerged March 5, remained quiet in a large outdoor cage in cold weather. With the warmer weather on March 9 she called in a wild male in the early morning hours of March 10. Ron indicates about 1/3 of his summer brood lunas went into a diapause while the other 2/3 emerged as expected.
Rick Illingworth reports two pairings of caged females with wild males, Johnson County, September 7, 2008.

Agapema anona dyari: September-October

Agapema anona platensis: October

Agapema galbina: September-late october

Agapema homogena: May-July

Agapema solita: September-late October

Anisota oslari: July-August

Anisota senatoria: June-July; eastern Texas

Anisota stigma: June-July; September; probably two broods

Anisota virginiensis: June, September; at least two broods

Antheraea oculea: April; extreme western Texas (Mike Quinn); Can be fairly common in the Chisos, Davis, and Guadalupe Mts. (Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Culberson Co.'s respectively. We have specimens... Not just a pic of a FW.) At least Mar-Aug in TX. (Charles Bordelon)

Antheraea polyphemus: March-April; June; August-September; November-December; at least a partial fourth brood
Information courtesy of Mike McCormick, Joe McKoy, Jim Klinger; Ron Votaw reports a wild male, March 10, 2008 in Comal County.
Rick Illingworth reports pairing of caged female with wild male, Johnson County, August 14, 2008

Automeris zephyria: June

Automeris louisiana: June-September; probably broods continuously along east coast

Automeris io: February, probable subsequent broods up to and including October

Callosamia angulifera: May 8, 2004, Cass County
Information courtesy of Charles Bordelon, via reports from by Hugo Kons and Bob Borth

Callosamia promethea: March-April, probable subsequent brood(s)
Charles Bordelon writes, "Adults of 1st brood in southeastern Texas begin flying in March. Uses sweetgum and persimmon down here. Prefers sweetgum. There is another flight in August-September."

Citheronia regalis: September-October

Coloradia pandora davisi: August-September

Coloradia pandora pandora: August-September

Eupackardia calleta: March and October; two broods

Citheronia regalis: June

Dryocampa rubicunda: May-July; probable subsequent broods

Eacles imperialis: May and September

Eacles imperialis female, Austin, Travis County, Texas, September 1, 2008, Linda Edelstein.

Hemileuca chinatiensis: late September-October-early November

Hemileuca grotei: November

Hemileuca hera: March; July-September

Hemileuca juno: October

Hemileuca maia: December

Hemileuca oliviae: September-December

Hemileuca peigleri: November-December

Hemileuca slosseri: November

Hemileuca maia: November; east

Hemileuca nevadensis: October; extreme west ?

Hyalophora cecropia: March, April, May; Ron Votaw encountered a wild female on March 10, 2008 in Comal County.

Mike van Buskirk writes, "I found several Hyalophora cecropia cocoons locally over the past winter in the Helotes area (Bexar County), and kept two, one which seemed to be a male, and a larger one I hoped might be a female.

"The male emerged on March 27th, but the other held over until Sunday April 13th. It was a female, and I put her out for a mate on the oak outside my front porch. No males from April 13-15th, and I was sure she would simply start laying infertile ova, but she continued to hold on to the oak trunk, so I left her alone.

"The nights on April 13-15 were cool-cold, clear, and with waxing moon--very few moths flying. Last evening April 16th was slightly warmer, overcast, and she had no mate when I left for work at 5:30am this morning (April 17th). However, when I returned from work at 5:30pm this afternoon, she indeed had a mate, a very fresh male! In my experience, the males fly to the females at the cusp of dawn, which would have been more towards 6:00am.

"The female has been sequestered for ova, and the male retained as a local voucher. It is the first H. cecropia I have seen in the vicinity of my home since moving to Grey Forest (near Helotes) in August 2005."

Hyalophora columbia gloveri: July

Rothschildia lebeau forbesis: late August-October

Sphingicampa albolineata: April-October; at least two-three broods; Brownsville

Sphingicampa bicolor: September-October

Sphingicampa bisecta: August

Sphingicampa blanchardi: April; September-early November

Sphingicampa heiligbrodti: March-April; September

Sphingicampa hubbardi: August-September

Charles Bordelon writes, "Don Bowman has reported both Citheronia phoronea and Copaxa manana in Texas. We have seen the photos, both very worn individuals. They have been published in LepSoc. I know that I published both in the Season Summary. Let me know if you need specific data. I believe Opler published the C. phoronea article in the News. No formal article was written for C. mannana, and we do have a photo of it."

I doubt that there are breeding populations of either of the two species mentioned above. I suspect they were strays from much further south, possibly assisted by strong winds or even on motor vehicles. Copaxa mannana hails from Hidalgo, Mexico, and Citheronia phoronea generally is not reported north of Panama.

Rothschildia lebeau forbesi fifth instar, McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas,
(visible parasitoid eggs and entry wounds), August 2010, courtesy of non-member Janice Mingus.

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