Our sixth featured moth is Rothschildia cinctus. They are found from southern Arizona to Panama.
According to Wikipedia: Saturniinae is a subfamily of the family Saturniidae. They are commonly known as emperor moths or wild silk moths. They are easily spotted by the eyespots on the upper surface of their wings. Some exhibit realistic eye-like markings, whilst others have adapted the eyespots to form crescent moon or angular shapes or have lost their wing scales to create transparent windows. They are medium to very large moths, with adult wingspans ranging from 7.5 to 15 cm, in some cases even more. They consist of some of the largest sized Lepidoptera, such as the luna moth, atlas moth, and many more.
In Arizona, these silk moths use Hopseed Bush, Dodonaea viscosa, as a larval host. You can read more about this plant at Arizona Living Landscape & Design (landscapearizona.com)
