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Rothschildia orizaba
This amazingly huge moth is called "Cuatro Ventanas" (Four Windows) in Spanish and had a 16 cm wingspan! It was a female and also a bit frayed on the wing edges, which I hope means she had already laid many eggs. Family Saturniidae.
Came to an ultraviolet light in the garden, San Cristobal de Las Casas, 2,200 meters.
http://www.pbase.com/image/109509580 http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.ed... http://www.leps.sk/SLOVENSKA%20VERZIA/Le... http://conabio.inaturalist.org/taxa/3121... http://androxa.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/...
Spotted on Jul 13, 2014
Submitted on Aug 12, 2014
2 Comments
Thank you Bill :) See this neat reference to an Aztec Butterfly Warrior that is supposedly based on the species Rothschildia orizaba…http://androxa.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/the-butterfly-warrior/.
I am pretty sure this is not a lebeau subspecies. It is a female Rothschildia roxana or Rothschildia orizaba. The elevation is more indicative of orizaba
but colouration is closer to roxana. I think I would have to go with a tentative orizaba.
Bill Oehlke