DISTRIBUTION:

Dirphia triangulum (wingspan: males: 83mm; females: mm 110mm Mfwl: ; Ffwl: ) flies in
southeastern Brazil: Santa Catarina: Sao Bento do Sul (PB); Rio de Janeiro; southeastern Minas Gerais (LV).

In 2011 Brechlin & Meister removed Dirphia triangulum from synonymy with Dirphia avia. Their depiction of the male triangulum is from Santa Catarina, Brazil, and it is an excellent match for the male directly below from Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina.

Dirphia triangulum male, Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
83mm, December, 2013, courtesy of Philippe Brems.

In his Hemileucinae, 2002 Lemaire indicates he examined Walker's lectotype of a female triangulum from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Lemaire also provides images of the very similar Dirphia curitiba from Parana: Curitiba; and Santa Catarina: Rio Vermelho and Sao Bento do Sul. I do not find, however, consistency between his descriptions of the two species relative to the three images he provides of curitiba.

Dirphia avia/triangulum/curitiba male, Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Larry Valentine reports the moth directly above from southeastern Minas Gerais is quite common in January. I do not think it is avia. It seems to show more orange on the hindwing than does the ESs image of triangulum. Perhaps it and the other specimens on this page from Minas Gerais are curitiba, but Lemaire does recognize avia/triangulum from Goias; Mato Grosso do Sul; Mato Grosso; Minas Gerais; Rio de Janeiro. Possibly DNA barcoding will be necessary to distinguish specimens of the avia group from southeastern Brazil. Lemaire does mention a faint but always present discal spot on all wings of curitiba, and indicates that is not always the case with triangulum.

Dirphia triangulum from southeastern Brazil has recently been resurrected from synonymity with Dirphia avia. I do not know if it is sympatric with or replaces D. avia in southeastern Brazil. Thus far the specimen images sent to me by Larry Valentine from southeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil, are good matches for the Entomo-Satsphingia image of Dirphia triangulum from Santa Catarina, Brazil, but they could also be curitiba.

It appears that triangulum and curitiba may be sympatric in some areas, and I would not be surprised if there are naturally occuring hybrids.

Based on Entomo-Satsphingia Jahrgang 4 Heft 5 29.12.2011, the Dirphia avia Group consists of the following species:

allae Brechlin & Meister 2011, Peru: Ayacucho; Apurimac; Cusco; Puno; Madre de Dios; Ucayali; Junin; Pasco;
avia French Guiana; Venezuela; probably Guyana and Suriname
avibarinasensis Brechlin & Meister 2011, Venezuela: Barinas
avichoco Brechlin & Meister 2011, Colombia: Choco
aviluisiana Brechlin & Meister 2011, Colombia: Antioquia
aviurica Brechlin & Meister 2011, Peru: Piura; Tumbes
avinapoana Brechlin, Meister & Kaech 2011, Ecuador: Napo; Zamora Chinchipe; Peru: Amazonas; San Martin
aviboliviana Brechlin & Meister 2011, Bolivia: La Paz; Chuquisaca; Beni; Tarija; Santa Cruz; Cochabamba;
avialtoparanensis Brechlin & Meister 2011, Paraguay: Alto Parana; Paraguari
cadioui Lemaire, 1980, Argentina; Bolivia
curitiba Draudt, 1930 Brazil
dentimaculata Schaus, 1921 Brazil
muscosa Schaus, 1898 southeastern Brazil; northeastern Argentina
Ormiscodes hortensia Schaus, 1913, Brazil, is same as muscosa
f. sinuosa Bouvier, 1929, Brazil, is same as muscosa
f. colorata Bouvier, 1930, Brazil, is same as muscosa
nora (Druce, 1897) Panama: Chiriqui
triangulum Walker, 1855 southeastern Brazil: Santa Catarina; Rio de Janeiro; southeastern Minas Gerais??.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are seen throughout the entire year so the species probably broods continuously as conditions permit.

Dirphia avia/triangulum male, Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dirphia avia/triangulum female, Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dirphia triangulum female, Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
110mm, December, 2013, courtesy of Philippe Brems.

Dirphia avia/triangulum male and female, Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dirphia triangulum female, Brazil

Larvae probably will feed upon West Indian Locust (Hymenaea courbaril) and West Indian Cedar (Cedrela odorata).

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use highly developed antennae to locate females at night by tracking their airbourne pheromone plumes.

Dirphia avia/triangulum male and female, Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dirphia avia/triangulum male and female (verso), Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 22, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

White eggs with a black micropyle are laid in large clusters and larvae feed gregariously.

Typical of the Subfamily Hemileucinae, Dirphia species all have urticating spines.

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

Cedrela odorata Crataegus oxyacantha...... Fagus sylvatica Hymenaea courbaril Malus Prunus Quercus ilex Salix

West Indian Cedar English hawthorn European Beech West Indian Locust Apple Cherry/Plum Holly/Holm oak Willow

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