Saturnia pyri

The night curassow or great curassow (Saturnia pyri) is a species of dithrysian lepidoptera of the family Saturniidae. It is the largest butterfly and insect in Europe, with a wingspan of between 12 and 16 centimeters. It is of palearctic distribution.

Features

It presents marked sexual dimorphism; male has antennae with long hairs (like a comb); the female has a larger and rounded abdomen. On the back it has four ocelli that resemble the eyes of an owl. It scares its predators by pretending to be an owl, which serves to scare them away.

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  Eclosion, with the egg still attached, on an almond leaf

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  caterpillar

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  caterpillar

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  Track, high resolution

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Natural history

The female, during the reproduction phase, emits pheromones that attract males up to 20 km away.

Flies at night, at twilight, and very occasionally the male can be seen flying late on hot afternoons.

The adult butterfly does not feed and can live for a week; all the energy he got when he was a caterpillar. The sole function of the adult phase is reproduction.