Lonomia
| Lonomia | |
|---|---|
| L. electra Mount Totumas cloud forest, Panama | |
| Caterpillar of Lonomia obliqua | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Saturniidae |
| Subfamily: | Hemileucinae |
| Genus: | Lonomia Walker, 1855 |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Diversity | |
| 14 species | |
The genus Lonomia is a moderate-sized group of fairly cryptic saturniid moths from South America, famous not for the adults, but for their highly venomous caterpillars, which are responsible for a few deaths each year, especially in southern Brazil, and the subject of hundreds of published medical studies. They are commonly known as giant silkworm moth, a name also used for a wide range of other saturniid moths.