Saturnia pavoniella eggs, small emperor moth
Saturnia pavoniella is a beautiful European Saturniidae, the small size adults fly and mate during the day. S. pavoniella is one of the earliest species of the year, a clear sign that spring is coming soon. Eggs are
available in the shop. The stock we are currently offering came from Italy, F1 from Roma and was collected by a colleague in 2020.
Saturnia pavoniella life cycle
The small emperor moth Saturnia pavoniella (Scopoli, 1763) is beautiful small Euro-Asian moth. The common name distinguish it from it’s larger European counterpart, Saturnia pyri, the emperor moth (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), which is much larger and easily distinguishable from the shape of bodt and wings.
The adults of Saturnia pavoniella emerge early in spring, from March to the beginning of May, depending on the regions. The male flies by the day while the female lays eggs during the night. There is only one generation per year, making it univoltine. This is a good reason not to miss it at the beginning of the year, when Prunus leaves are already available. If you live in the Saturnia pavoniella or Saturnia pavonia areal, by exposing a female outdoors you could attract wild males, which are already flying around in many parts of Europe.
The newly-hatchedn larvae of Saturnia pavoniella (2-3mm long) consume part of their eggshells before clustering together. At this point they are mostly black and bristly. As they grow, patches of orange appear around the base of the tubercles, particularly ventrally and laterally. These patches spread and coalesce with further growth, and gradually become green as the mature larvae is.
Saturnia pavoniella rearing and breeding
Saturnia pavoniella is an easy and funny species to handle. The caterpillar feeds on a high number of host plants while the adult, as all the other Saturniidae, doesn’t feed at all. Once the adults have paired, the female will start to lay the same night. Copula generally lasts few hours (1-3) and occurs during the day.
The species is small-medium size, The wingspan is 45–70 mm (1.8–2.8 in) for males and 50–95 mm (2.0–3.7 in) for females.
Caterpillars hatch 10-14 days after egg laying and promptly start to feed. The small emperor moth’s hosts include:Rubus, Prunus, Crataegus, Quercus, Carpinus, Betula, Salix, Erica, Vaccinium, Spiraea, Filipendula, Lythrum, Potentilla, Rosa, Calluna and Hippophae. In northern Greece, for example, the preferred hosts are Rubus ulmifolius and Pyrus amygdaliformis.
After the caterpillars have pupated, you can leave the cocoon at room temperature until autumn. When the cold season starts, put them in a sealed box and store the in the fridge waiting for spring. Pairing of the adult moths is easily obtained in our rearing cages.
Saturnia pavoniella, distribution of the emperor moth
Saturnia pavoniella is a very special moth of the family Saturniidae, one of the most beautiful European species. The small emperor moth is found in the alpine regions of Austria, all Italy (including Sicily) and the Czech Republic across south-eastern Europe to northern Turkey and the Caucasus. It could be also present in south-eastern France, where the very similar Saturnia pavonia is resident.
As summarized by leps.it the two above mentioned species have been separated from Huemer & Nässig (2003) for several reasons, particularly because of F1 hybrid infertility (of females and of most males) between the two combined with consistent differences in wing markings and differences in genitalial morphology.
In Tony Pittaway website we can read that the population of this small Saturniidae in southeastern France may not be this species but Saturnia pavonia pavonia, but this also requires further investigation. It is uncertain whether Saturnia pavoniella occurs in Spain. In Italy and Austria this species overlaps with Saturnia pavonia pavonia to a small degree, producing a limited hybrid zone.