Saturnia (moth)

Saturnia
Giant emperor moth (Saturnia pyri)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturniidae
Tribe: Saturniini
Genus: Saturnia
Schrank, 1802
Synonyms
  • Eudia Jordan in Seitz, 1911
  • Heraea Hübner, 1822
  • Pavonia Hübner [1819] (non Lamarck, 1816: preoccupied)

Saturnia is a genus of large silkmoths in the family Saturniidae, which the German biologist Franz von Paula Schrank first described in 1802. Its members are commonly named emperor moths, though this is also used for various close relatives in subfamily Saturniinae. Most species are Palearctic, but three, commonly called "saturnia moths", inhabit the chaparral of California: S. mendocino, S. walterorum, and S. albofasciata.