Pselaphelia mariaetheresae
sel-uh-FEE-lee-uhMMUH-ree-ay-teh-REE-say
Darge, 2002

Pselaphelia mariaetheresae, male, southern Tanzania,
67mm, on my home computer only.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Urotini, Packard, 1902 Genus: Pselaphelia, Aurivillius, 1904

MIDI MUSIC "Moon River" copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="moon.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Thierry Bouyer indicates Pselaphelia mariaetheresae (wingspan: males: 67mm; females: ?) flies in the mountains of southern Tanzania.

It is very similar to P. kitchingi, but P. mariaetheresae has an even stronger presence of greyish-white scales in the terminal area of all wings.

Pselaphelia mariaetheresae, male, southern Tanzania,
67mm, on my home computer only.

Visit Pselaphelia Comparison Plate for identification purposes.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The Pselaphelia mariaetheresae caterpillar hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from subterranean pupae.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Pselaphelia mariaetheresae females emit an airbourne pheromone and males use their highly developed antennae to track the scent plume at night to locate the calling females.

EGGS, CATERPILLARS AND PUPAE:

Mature larvae leave the host plant to excavate tunnels into the earth. Pupation is in a subterranean chamber.

Larval Food Plants

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

I do not know the source of Pselaphelia, but it may have something to do with the dark bar (shadow) passing below the cell in the type species gemmifera. Aphelia is the point on the orbit of a celestial body that is farthest from the sun; I think "psel" is associated with 'shadow'.

The species name mariaetheresae is honourific for Maria Theresa.