Napo Province, Ecuador

Please note: Locations of towns and cities are approximate.

Located in northeastern Ecuador, just west of northwestern Peru and south of Colombia, Napo Province is host to many Saturniidae species.

In the west there are breathtaking cloud forests sloping eastward to subtropical rain forests and paramo (grasslands). One of Ecuador's most beautiful snow-capped volcanoes, Antisana, is close to the province's western border with Pichincha.

Buses run regularly from Quito, Pichincha Province, to and from Tena, the provincial capital, and there has been much reporting of Saturniidae along the road from Quito to Tena.

Gamelia neidhoeferi female, Cosanga, Napo Province, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach.

The name Ecuador is Spanish for equator, and the country straddles the geographic equator, from about 1°30'N to 5°S latitude; mainland Ecuador extends from about 75°20'W to 81°W longitude. Napo Province is just south of the Equator.

In 1998 the eastern half of Napo province was recognized as the new province of Orellana, but official maps showing the new province have not yet been produced. The new province of Orellana includes Yasuní National Park, an important area for botanical inventories. Similarly, in 1989 the province of Sucumbíos, which includes the botanically important Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, was split off from Napo province.

Lemaire generally does not indicate Saturniidae species from Sucumbios province, and also does not report for Orellana. Species from those regions were designated as from Napo.

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