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Sticker of Ligurian emperor
Bug card No. 2613 of 4,939

Ligurian emperor

Saturnia pavoniella
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The Ligurian emperor is a big, beautiful moth from southern Europe. It belongs to the emperor moth family, famous for the large eye spots on their wings. It comes out early, sometimes while it is still winter.

Lives in
The Alps and south-eastern Europe to Turkey and the Caucasus
Wingspan
4.5 to 9.5 cm (1.8 to 3.7 in)
females are bigger than males
Top speed
about 22 km/h (14 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars are not fussy at all. They eat birch, heather, oak, willow, roses, brambles and many other plants.
For real!Photo of Ligurian emperor
Picture by Lsadonkey. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Ligurian emperor wings about 9.5 cm tip to tip (3.7 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
wings as wide as 3 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 17 seconds

How big is Ligurian emperor compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Females are bigger than males. A big female can have wings almost 10 centimetres across.

2

The grown-up moths fly from February to June.

3

Its caterpillars have been found on more than 15 kinds of plants, from apple trees to blueberries.

you asked

Most asked questions about Ligurian emperor

?How big is the Ligurian emperor moth?

Males have wings about 4.5 to 7 centimetres across, and females up to about 9.5 centimetres.

?What does the Ligurian emperor caterpillar eat?

Many plants, such as birch, oak, willow, heather, roses and brambles.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Saturnia pavoniella
Group
Moths
Family
Saturniidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Saturniidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Saturnia pavoniella (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Lsadonkey. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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