Family Saturniidae - Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Internet References

Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar - Antheraea polyphemus

Male oakworm moth - Anisota senatoria - male

Pink-striped Oakworm (eggs discovered) - Anisota virginiensis

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

No Taxon (Moths)

Superfamily Bombycoidea

Family Saturniidae (Giant Silkworm and Royal Moths)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

BugGuide currently follows the moth classification and nomenclature used at All-Leps.

Explanation of Names

Named after the type genus, Saturnia, which was itself named after Juno, the queen of the gods in Roman mythology. One of her other names was Saturnia, because she was daughter of the god Saturn.

Numbers

77 species in 18 genera in 3 subfamilies in North America listed at All-Leps

Identification

Check out this article to see thumbnails of all the giant silkworm and royal moths together on one page.

Internet References

Moths of Southeastern Arizona live and pinned images of various life stages of 26 species, plus common names for each, but classification follows Hodges checklist of 1983, now outdated (Bruce Walsh, U. of Arizona)

pinned adult image thumbnails of 21 species occurring in Canada (CBIF)

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, john and jane balaban, Robin McLeod, Chuck Entz, ceiseman
Last updated 30 July, 2009 - 7:48pm

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