Citheronia splendens sinaloensis
sih-ther-OH-nee-uhmmSPLEN-densmmsin-uh-loh-ENS-ihs
C. C. Hoffmann, 1942

Citheronia splendens sinaloensis female, copyright protected, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841 was Citheroniinae: Neumoegen & Dyar, 1894 Genus: Citheronia, Hübner, 1819 Species: splendens sinaloensis, Hoffmann, 1942

MIDI MUSIC "WhatAWonderfulWorld" copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="world.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Citheronia splendens sinaloensis (wingspan: males: 84-111; females: 107-128mm) is primarily a Mexican species (Sonora, Sinaloa), sometimes found in southern Arizona. The moth tends to fly in desert arroyos where manzita and wild cotton are found.

Note the slate gray ground colour and snow white markings.

C. s. sinaloensis habitat, Geronimo's Trail, Douglas, Arizona, courtesy of Russell Witkop.

C. s. sinaloensis habitat, Geronimo's Trail, Douglas, Arizona, courtesy of Russell Witkop.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Citheronia splendens sinaloensisi fly from early July to mid-August. Larvae prefer wild cotton and manzita but accept sweetgum, walnut and sumac species.

Citheronia splendens sinaloensis female, by Viktor Suter and Bernhard Wenczel.

Citheronia splendens sinaloensis male, by Viktor Suter and Bernhard Wenczel.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adults emerge from 9:00-11:00 P.M..

Females generally call after midnight with most pairings initiated between 1:00 and 3:30 A.M.. Separation occurs the following evening when females begin their ovipositing flights. Both sexes come to lights, but females much less readily than males.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Yellowish eggs (2mm) are deposited either singly or in groups of up to four on upper and under surfaces of hostplant foliage. Incubation lasts 7-10 days with larvae becoming visible through transparent eggshells a day or so before emergence. Long thoracic spines are well developed at emergence as evidenced by five day old larva to the right on Staghorn sumac ( Rhus typhina). Container reared larvae tended to leave foliage when not feeding to fasten a silk pad to the side of the container. When disturbed, the larvae thrash the thorax rapidly from side to side.

Larvae move into the second instar within a week and lose the brown saddle, but spines remain well-developed. With all the spines, the larvae must have a good anchor when moulting. As this larva moved from the second to the third instar, it had difficulty moving out of its old skin.

The dead skin got hung up around the last three abdminal segments just before the claspers, and I had to pick at the dead skin to free the larva. Failure to do so would have resulted in the skin drying and eventually restricting movement and intestinal processes. Thoracic horns now have some yellow.

Citheronia larvae are able to assimilate food extremely well and growth is rapid with relatively few droppings. This early fourth instar larva on staghorn sumac has lost its long black anal "spike" and shows a generally lightening of colour, especially noticeable around spiracles. Length at this point is slightly over two inches.

Larvae (up to 15 cm long) are solitary nighttime feeders in early stages when they curl up in a "j" shaped pattern during the day and resemble bird droppings. In later instars larvae also feed during the day and grow very rapidly.

Photo courtesy of Mark Deering.

Pupation is normally deep underground, but most of the earth pupators can be induced into pupating in any dark enclosure.

My father has had regalis pupate regularly in the dark chambers of a closed fishing tackle box. I regularly have Sphingidae pupate under paper towelling in large buckets placed in a warm dark closet.

Sinaloensis pupae should be stored above freezing; sprinkling in June with air temperature water sometimes helps induce eclosions.

John Campbell reports considerable variation in fifth instar larvae.

Visit Citheronia splendens sinaloensis fifth instar variations, Arizona, courtesy of John Campbell.

Visit Citheronia splendens sinaloensis hatchling, first instar, fourth and fifth instar, Arizona, courtesy of Leroy Simon.

Visit Citheronia splendens sinaloensis fifth instar, Tucson, Arizona, courtesy of Matthew Jarvis.

Arbutus menziesii Arctostaphylus pungens Carya glabra Gossypium thurberi Juglans nigra Juglans regia Liquidambar styraciflua..... Pistacia lentiscus Rhus choriophylla Rhus laurina Rhus typhina Schinus molle

Pacific madrone Pointleaf manzita Pignut hickory Arizona wild cotton Black walnut English walnut Sweetgum mastic tree Sumac Laurel sumac Staghorn sumac California peppertree

Citheronia splendens sinaloensis courtesy of Bob Jensen.

Return to Citheronia Index

Return to Main Index

The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

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

The source of the genus name "Citheronia" is probably Mount Citheron (Greek mythology), an untamed wilderness, exempt from the laws of civilization. The goddesses go naked there and are free from any of the pressures of society.

The species name "splendens" is for the splendid appearance of this beautiful moth.

The subspecies name "sinaloensis" is for the location of the holotype in Sinaloa, Mexico.