A new species of the genus Hyalophora Duncan, 1841 from Central Mexico (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae, Attacini)

A new species of the genus Hyalophora, H. mexicana sp. n., is described. Specimens from the Mexican Federal States of Zacatecas and Guanajuato as well as male genitalia are illustrated; a distribution map is included. The male holotype is deposited in Colección Nacional de Insectos, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad México, Mexico. Only male specimens are known so far. The new species is compared with other Hyalophora species. The description of the new species is based on studies of imaginal morphology including male genitalia and mtDNA (COI barcode). H. mexicana sp. n. is a very large species for the genus, and with its combination of typical characters such as reddish colouration, rounded, drop-shaped ocellular patches of the wings, a reduced, quarter-circle band of blue scales in the subapical ocellus of the forewing and details in male genitalia structures it can be separated easily from all hitherto known northern species. In addition, some taxonomic and nomenclatural problems in Hyalophora are addressed.