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Copaxa Moth

Copaxa lavendera

Photo by LaurenZarate
Published on Project Noah
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16.7354, -92.6387

Field Notes

Description:

A spectacular yellow female of the Silkworm Moth Copaxa lavender. She has a wing span of almost 8 cm! She arrived about 2 in the morning and was very tame. Her body is furry yellow with pink legs and well marked spiracles on the abdomen. Family Saturniidae.

Habitat:

Came to an ultraviolet light in the garden, San Cristobal de Las Casas, 2,200 meters.

Notes:

Several children in the neighborhood were present for the first night of Moth Week Explorations and were thrilled and fascinated when this one came. This moth has a relatively small distribution from southern Mexico to Honduras.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (14)
LaurenZarate
Thank you Bill, I hadn't realized we had two species of Copaxa here! Very neat.
BillOehlke
Yes, very nice images of a female Copaxa lavendera. The link to the male shows a Copaxa cydippe male. The male of lavendera is orangey, but also has the very large ocelli, like those of the female, not small as in cydippe. Bill Oehlke
LaurenZarate
Thank you Karen. Hope this one had a happy, if short, life....
KarenL
National Moth Week Fun Fact! The family Saturniidae refers moths in this family with eyespots. These eyespots usually have rings around them, resembling the planet Saturn. Moths in the family Saturniidae also have reduced or lack mouthparts and depend on fat reserves from their larval stages to live. As a result of this, many moths in the Saturniidae family live for only about a week, solely for the purpose of keeping their species alive. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153046642475603&set=a.10152575329380603.958289.10150120463815603&type=1
LaurenZarate
Thank you dotun. It sure does look like your pink and yellow one! There must be some genetic relationship between them - far back in Pangea... :) Dotun's Nigerian Moth: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/27846408/fullscreen
dotun55
Looks like one of mine. The second photo is very nice :)

Spotted for Missions

Butterflies and Moths of México
Mission
Mexico Horn of Plenty
Mission
Moths of the World
Mission
National Geographic's Great Nature Project
Mission
Insects from Mexico!

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Photographed
PublishedJuly 21, 2013

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