Eacles masoni centralamericana
Updated as per Entomo Satsphingia Jahrgang 4 Heft 3 23.08.2011; January 29, 2012
Updated as per Dan Janzen website (Costa Rica); January 29, 2012
Updated as per personal communication with Jean-Michael Maes, Nicaragua; January 302, 2012

Eacles masoni centralamericana
EE-uh-kleesMMAY-son-eyeMsen-tral-ah-mer-ih-KAHN-nuh
Brechlin & Meister 2011

Eacles masoni centramericana male, Costa Rica,
courtesy of Dan Janzen, id by Bill Oehlke

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841
Genus: Eacles, Hübner, [1819]

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DISTRIBUTION:

Eacles masoni centralamericana (approximate wingspan: males: 104-120mm; females: 114-130mm) flies in
Nicaragua: Atlantico Sur, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Rio San Juan;
Costa Rica: San Jose; Limon; Cartago; Guanacaste; Puntarenas, Heredia; and
Panama: Bocas del Toro; as elevations from 1100-2120m.

Dan Janzen indicates that in Costa Rica this species flies only in rain forest areas.

The Costa Rican moths, depicted on this page, are listed on Dan Janzen's website as Eacles masoni, without a subspecies designation. I have added the subspecies "centralamericana", based on new classifications by Brechlin & Meister, 2011, of specimens from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Bill Oehlke

Eacles masoni centramericana male (verso), Costa Rica,
114mm, courtesy of Dan Janzen, id by Bill Oehlke

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Adult specimens have been taken in May-June and September. There are likely additional flight months.

Eacles masoni centramericana female, Costa Rica,
courtesy of Dan Janzen, id by Bill Oehlke

Eacles masoni centramericana female (verso), Costa Rica,
courtesy of Dan Janzen, id by Bill Oehlke

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females, which are much plainer than males, probably mate around 10:00 P.M., and the pair remains coupled until the following evening. Upon separation, the females begin their ovipositing flights.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Semi-translucent green eggs, girdled with a black band, are deposited singly or in small clusters of up to six. The larvae become visible through the egg shells a day or so before emerging.

Larvae are solitary in their feeding habits. At maturity larvae descend trees to pupate in underground chambers.


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.

Liquidambar
Quercus
Prunus domestica .......

Sweetgum
Oak
Plum

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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.

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.

I do not know the source of the genus name "Eacles", but it may be a combination of "Ea", the Greek word for gods and goddesses and the Greek suffix "cles", meaning 'glory of'.

The species name "centralamericana" is indicative of a specimen type location in Central America: Nicaragua.

Eacles masoni centralmericana male, Alto del Valle, Panama,
on my home computer only.