''Rothschildia erycina'', or Rothschild's silk moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family Saturniidae first described by

George Shaw George Shaw may refer to: * George Shaw (biologist) (1751–1813), English botanist and zoologist * George B. Shaw (1854–1894), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), Irish playwright * George C. Shaw (1866–196 ...

in 1796. It is found from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. The

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical rainforest and wet savannah. It is found on altitudes of up to 1,200 meters above sea level. The larvae feed on '' Ailanthus altissima'', ''

Coutarea ''Coutarea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is native to southern Mexico, Central America, South America and the West Indies. These plants are woody trees and shrubs with oppositely arranged leaves and termina ...

'', '' Exostema'', ''

Ligustrum A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

'', ''

Antonia Antonia may refer to: People * Antonia (name), including a list of people with the name * Antonia gens, a Roman family, any woman of the gens was named ''Antonia'' * Antônia (footballer) * Antônia Melo Entertainment * ''Antonia's Line'', or ...

'', '' Cenostigma'', '' Chiococca'' and ''

Dodonaea ''Dodonaea'' is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants, often known as hop-bushes, in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, so ...

'' species. The larval stage lasts about 40 days. Pupation takes place in a large silken cocoon. The pupal stage lasts 3 to 4 weeks.

Subspecies

*''Rothschildia erycina erycina'' *''Rothschildia erycina mexicana'' Draudt, 1929 (Mexico) *''Rothschildia erycina nigrescens'' Rothschild, 1907 (Costa Rica to Ecuador) erycina Moths described in 1796 Taxa named by George Shaw {{Saturniidae-stub