S. pavonia has a western European distribution and S. pavoniella has the eastern European distribution. There are differences in the genitalia of the two species and S. pavoniella is slightly larger, although not nearly as large as S. pyri. The males of S. pavoniella show some differences in hind wing pattern in comparison with S. pavonia.
The caterpillars, which Dan Danahar found on Corfu, are also different. However, from our point of view it's enough that we found these insects in the eastern Mediterranean to be fairly confident about their species identification.
On the 13th March 2021, Dan Danahar wrote of the CBC Face book page.
I think this species exists on Corfu having found what looked like 3rd instar caterpillars on the 10th May 2015 at Xanthates. The males are similar in appearance to the females but with rusty orange hindwings and brown forewings. More importantly the males are day flying and so a trip to Xanthates now may reveal adults of this species. Having said this the Italians have been recording males of this species being on the wing since the end of January.
On the 31st March 2021, Jane Barry posted a photo of a female, taken at Roda, northern Corfu. Later that day Katie Jane also sent in a photograph of a female, from Perivoli in the south of the island. Jane Barry then posted a photograph of a dead female found by the side of the road (Roda) and Sandra Jane Krokidia posted the first image of a male, from Peroulades, nr Sidari, both on the 1st April 2021.
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Southern Emperor Moth submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 13/03/2023 | 02/05/2023 | 50 days |
2022 | 24/03/2022 | 08/04/2022 | 15 days |
2021 | 31/03/2021 | 07/04/2021 | 7 days |
Year | Number of observations |
---|---|
2023 | 6 |
2022 | 6 |
2021 | 5 |
Grand Total | 17 |
The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023 submitted online since 1st January 2023 to 8th June 2023.
The chart below shows flight data by month based on all data submitted online since 1st January 2019 to 8th June 2023.
For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.