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Species Rothschildia forbesi - Forbes' Silkmoth - Hodges#7761

Forbes' Silkmoth - Rothschildia forbesi - male Forbes' Silkmoth - Rothschildia forbesi Rothschildia Lebeau Forbesi (Forbes' Silkmoth) - female - Rothschildia forbesi - female Rothschildia Lebeau Forbesi (Forbes' Silkmoth) - mating pair (male on right) - Rothschildia forbesi - male - female Forbes' Silkmoth  - Rothschildia forbesi Finally a Forbes! - Rothschildia forbesi Finally a Forbes! moved inside - Rothschildia forbesi Finally a Forbes! back outdoors - Rothschildia forbesi
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)
Subfamily Saturniinae (Silkmoths)
Tribe Attacini
Genus Rothschildia
Species forbesi (Forbes' Silkmoth - Hodges#7761)
Hodges Number
7761
Other Common Names
In Spanish: "Cuatro Espejos" (four mirrors)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Rothschildia lebeau forbesi (1)
Size
Wingspan circa 100 mm
Identification
Very large silk moth found only in South Texas.
Transparent triangular spots on the wings. Wings reddish brown to dark brown with olive tinge.
Range
Fairly common in the lower Rio Grande Valley, especially around Brownsville, Texas. Ranges south into Mexico. (2)
Season
February-April, September-November (two flights in Texas)
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on several trees/shrubs, such as Ash, Fraxinus, prickly ash, Zanthoxylum, and willow, Salix.

Adults may take two or three years before emerging from the pupa. (2)
Remarks
Two other species in this genus rarely enter into SE Texas: Jorulla silkmoth (R. jorulla) and Orizaba silkmoth (R. orizaba)

R. cincta was recorded from the Brownsville area ca. 1900. (2)
Print References
Tuskes, pp. 187-188, plates 24--adult, 5-larva (1)
(3)