68.001 BF1643 - Emperor Moth - Saturniidae - Saturnia pavonia

68.001 BF1643 - Saturniidae - Saturniinae - Saturnia pavonia - Emperor Moth

Adult Macro: CAT 1 - Distinctive species unlikely to be confused with others -

- click for Adult Macro Verification Guidelines

- Generally Common / Widespread - Day-flying

Taxonomy: Macro >> . >> Saturniidae

ID Difficulty: green

- easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.

ID pointers: An unmistakable moth, very colourful with large “eye” circles on each wing. The female is larger with greyer brown tones. Reddish corners to the wing tips and a pale buff boarder to the forewings and hind-wings. The males are quite spectacular.

Distribution: A resident and reasonably common on the Derbyshire moorlands. The populations suffer from fires and predation by birds, such as Swallow, Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher.

Flight Period: April / May / - On the wing – April – May – one generation – Males fly by day – one female can attract many males. Females generally fly at night

Moth Activity: Nocturnal Diurnal - occasionally attracted to light

*** Last updated on 8 April 2025 by TD ***

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Wingspan: 35-41mm
Forewing: 27-32mm

Food Plant: Mostly woody plants found on moorland. Heathers, Alder, Meadowsweet, Buckthorn, Bramble, Hawthorns, Blackthorn.

Recorded dates for Common [Blue-coded ] moths are not stored on the website at this current time.

IMAGES BELOW: Female / Darley Dale – Image by Simon Roddis © / caterpillar – Kinder Scout 28/7/24 – Nikki Mahadevan©/ Male – Glossop & Female Glossop (March/April 2025) Christian Heintzen© Glossop 2 different males 7/4/2025 – Tony Davison©