DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia annulata (wingspan: males: 45-56mm; females: 64-77mm) flies in
Costa Rica: Limon, Heredia, Cartago (CL), Guanacaste, Puntarenas (IB);
Venezuela: Bolivar, Miranda, Barinas;
Colombia: Choco, Valle, Meta, Antioquia (JJ);
Ecuador: (Pichincha, Los Rios, Napo, Morona-Santiago (CL)), Esmeraldas (HK), and (probably Pastaza, Carchi and Imbabura (WO?));
Peru: Huanuco, Puno;
Bolivia: La Paz, ;
French Guiana: Kaw, Cayenne, Regina, Coralie, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni;
Guyana: Mazaruni-Potari; and
Brazil: Amazonas, Mato Grosso; and
probably in Panama: : and
probably in Surinam.

Hylesia annulata, male, Tena, Napo, Ecuador,
courtesy of Steve Ife.

This species has been taken at elevations between 30m and 1300m, up to 1600-1700m in Antioquia, Colombia (JJ).

Hylesia annulata male, Arrierito Antioqueno, Central Cordillera, Antioquia, Colombia,
March 2, 2011, 1600-1700m, courtesy of Joakim Johansson, id by Bill Oehlke.

The thorax is dark brown to black and the abdomen is yellow with black rings and a mouse grey anal tuft.

The forewing is broad with an acute, non-produced apex and an almost straight outer margin. Ground colour is purplish-grey with a very dark basal area and often a suffusion of dark scales in the median area. There is a dark brown-black apical patch along the costa with the thin, dark, concave postmedial line, outwardly traced with grey and another wispy, thin dark line, running from the lowest point of the patch to the outer third of the inner margin.

The dark rectangular discal mark is oriented perpendicular to the costa and has a small brown area(s). There is a dark suffusion along the inner margin between the postmedial and subterminal lines.

Hylesia annulata (male), Brazil, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Hylesia annulata male (verso), 49 mm, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in January-February, April-May, July-September and in December, suggesting multiple broods. Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pick up and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae.

Hylesia annulata female, Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Hylesia annulata female (verso), Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are probably deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hylesia annulata larvae are probably highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

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.

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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.

I do not know the origin of the genus name Hylesia.

The species name annulata is probably for the distinctive abdominal rings; annulated means ringed.