DISTRIBUTION:

Automeris belti belti (wingspan: males: 91-93mm; females: 125mm) flies in
Nicaragua: Esteli, Chontales, Zelaya, Rio San Juan;
Mexico: Veracruz, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Puebla, (Oaxaca (KP)); and
Belize: Cayo, Toledo;
Honduras: Cortes (RC), Atlantida, Olancho, Yoro (RC);
Costa Rica: Heredia, Cartago, Limon, Puntarenas (CL), Guanacaste, San Jose, Alejuela (IB);
Panama: Chiriqui, Colon, Canal Zone. I suspect it also flies in eastern Guatemala now confirmed in Izabal (JM).

Automeris belti male, Cortes, Honduras, courtesy/copyright Eduardo Marabuto.

The forewing ground colour varies from light buff to brownish-beige to brown. The outer margin is oblique; the dark pm line is preapical and slightly concave, inwardly bordered with yellow.

The am line is angulate and outwardly bordered with yellow. The cell is darker than its surroundings and is accentuated with black dots.

Automeris belti male, Bartola, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua,
courtesy of Maxime Pastore.

Visit Automeris belti, faded males, La Ceiba, Atlantida, Honduras, April-May, 100-125mm, courtesy of Robert Lehman.

Automeris belti male, Golfito, Puntarenas, Costa Rica,
May 4, 2008, courtesy of Leroy Simon.

Hindwing ground colour is yellow-orange, with reddish hairs and scales in the basal area, along the inner margin, and beneath the forewing overlap. The hindwing pupil is black and oval and dusted with white scales. The iris is large and light brown. The black pm line is thin and smooth, outwardly followed by a thin yellow-orange band, a thicker grey band and then a thick greyish-orange outer margin.

Automeris belti belti, male, Las Cuevas, Cayo, Belize, 93mm, courtesy of Art Gilbert and Norm Smith.

It is replaced by Automeris belti zaruma in Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in February-March, May, July and October in Costa Rica, suggesting at least three broods.

Robert Lehman reports an April-May flight in La Ceiba, Atlantida, Honduras.

Automeris belti larvae feed upon Cestrum racemosum, Ficus, Heliocarpus appendiculitus, Psidium guajava, Rhynchosia pyramidata and Senna papillosa.

Automeris belti female, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Automeris belti female, Oaxaca, Mexico, 2000m, courtesy of Kelly Price

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Automeris belti males use highly developed antennae to locate mates at night by tracking the airbourne pheromone plume.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Automeris belti larvae have urticating spines and feed gregariously.

Pupation is in a cocoon spun up amongst ground litter and surrounding grasses.

Listed below are the primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. 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.

Cestrum racemosum Ficus Heliocarpus appendiculitus....... Psidium guajava Rhynchosia pyramidata Senna papillosa

Cestrum racemosum Fig Heliocarpus appendiculitus Common guava Kanacabtsonot Senna

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