Caio undilinea
KYE-ohmmun-dih-LYE-nee-uh
(Schaus, 1921) (Arsenura)

Male Caio undulinea moth, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Arsenurinae, Jordan, 1922 Tribe: Arsenurini, Jordan, 1922 Genus: Caio, Travossa and Noronha, 1968

MIDI MUSIC "Wind Beneath My Wings" copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="wings.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

The Caio undilinea moth (wingspan: males: 119-143mm; females: 140mm plus) flies from Nicaragua: Madriz and Masaya; Costa Rica: Guanacaste and San Jose; and Panama: Canal Zone to coastal Venezuela: Yaracuy, Aragua, and Miranda.

The moth depicted above was listed as C. championi by Dan Janzen, but it seems intermediate between Lemaire's descriptions of undilinea and championi.

The two moths may be the same species, although Lemaire sites these differences from a small number of specimens: "This species can be separated with difficulty from C. championi by the smaller expanse of the wings, the lighter ground colour of the inner zone of the baso-median area and the postmedian line of the forewings being closer to the outer margin. The distance from the intersection of this line and M1 to the outer margin is under 1/5 in undilinea and over 1/4 in championi of the length of the wing from the base to the apex. The postmedian line of the forewing is always in C. undilinea, rarely in C. championi undulate from Cu1b to the costa, especially between the later and M2."

Lemaire indicates he finds no difference in the genitalia.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larvae feed on Bombacopsis quinatum, Floss silktree (Chorisia) and Basswood (Tilia).

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males, which have short square tails, use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

The females lack the distinguishing tales of the males and tend more toward a pale brown colour.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Larvae have white saddles in the early instars and are equipped with thoracic horns. The burgundy head is not visible in this image. Subsequent moults result in a green head and body.

There's not much to protect any larvae from small parasitic wasps, however, and this one has succombed. Larvae can easily reach lengths of 120 mm and this one got quite chunky on Bombacopsis quinatum despite the parasites.

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.

Bombacopsis quinatum..... Chorisia Tilia

Bombacopsis quinatum Floss silktree Basswood/Lime/Linden

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

Return to Caio Genus

Goto Mexico and Central American Saturniidae Directory

Goto South 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.

I suspect the reason for the species name, undilinea, is for the undulation of the forewing postmedian line.