DISTRIBUTION:

Saturnia walterorum, the diurnal Walters' Saturnia moth (wing span: 2 1/2 - 3 3/4 inches (6.4 - 9.4 cm)), flies in chaparral from sea level to 6400 feet from Southern California south to Rosarita into Baja California, Mexico.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There is one brood from late January to late May, sometimes even into June when weather is cool.

Larvae feed on Manzanita (Arctostaphylos), laurel-leaf sumac (Rhus laurina), and lemonade-berry (Rhus integrifolia).

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING: Adults emerge in early morning and fly during the day with matings common around 10:00 am. Pairing is sometimes very brief (five minutes) and seldom longer than an hour. To the right is heavily bodied female in typical resting pose. Early inexperience with this species reulting in my discarding of fertile eggs. I missed what must have been a very brief pairing mid morning, and then when the eggs still hadn't hatched after 28 days, I threw them away. I had sent some to a friend who informed me a week or so later the eggs had hatched and larvae were doing fine! Sumac works fine as a larval host out of this species' natural range.

The female is considerably larger than the male (photo male courtesy of Leroy Simon) whose entire forewings are of a darker hue. Use a small mesh for an emerging cage or tiny males will crawl right through openings.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Females lay oblong white eggs, which hatch in 11-30 days, singly or in small bunches on the host plants. The young caterpillars feed from the underside of host leaves. First instar photo courtesy of Peter J. Bryant

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Larvae (Leroy Simon photo) pass through four-five instars and turn bright orange or pink prior to spinning. Eclosions can be successfully delayed by keeping cocoons dry and around 50-55 F from fall spinning time until desired eclosion time.

Loosely-woven mesh-like cocoons are spun on the host plant or at the base of a larval sleeve. Moths emerge as early as nine days out of cocoon cold-storage under artificial conditions. Sumac serves as a good alternate food in regions where manzita does not grow. Cocoon photo by Dan MacKinnon.

Listed below are the primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. 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.

Arbutus unedo Arctostaphylos Rhus integrifolia Rhus larina Rhus trilobata Rhus typhina Schinus terebinthifolius.....

Strawberry madrone Manzanita Mahogany sumac / Lemonade-berry Laurel sumac Skunk-brush Staghorn sumac Brazil peppertree

Saturnia walterorum male, copyright protected, courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Saturnia walterorum female, copyright protected, courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Saturnia walterorum, larva, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

Saturnia walterorum, larva, courtesy of Alan Marson.

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