DISTRIBUTION:

The Caio richardsoni mestiza moth flies in Mexico.

Lemaire regarded this moth as a dark colour morph of nominate richardsoni rather than a subspecies.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Caio richardsoni mestiza larvae probably feed upon Kapok (Ceiba acuminata), and Floss-silk tree (Chorisia).

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Caio richardsoni mestiza males use antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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.

Ceiba acuminata...... Chorisia

Kapok Floss-silk tree

Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.

Return to Caio Genus

Goto Mexico and Central American Saturniidae Directory

Goto Main Saturniidae Index

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.

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

Caio, most often called Caligula, is one of the two heirs indicated by Tiberio in his will. Caligula was elected Emperor, ruled for a short time and fell victim to a conspiracy. He was murderd for his cruelty to the people.

The species name, richardsoni, is honourific for Richardson. The subspecies name 'mestiza' means a 'woman of mixed racial ancestry' and may be a reference to the dark colouration of this moth, which may be a morph or form rather than a subspecies.