DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia subaurea (wingspan: males: 41-46mm; females: 59-63mm) flies in
Mexico: Puebla; Veracruz; Oaxaca; Chiapas and in
Guatemala: Baja Verapaz and in
Honduras: Cortes and Lempira at elevations from 1300-1650m.

Jean Michel Maes reports them in Nicaragua: Zelaya.

This species is generally larger than H. lineata (more so in male than in female), and the markings are more pronounced. The hindwing eyespot also tends to be less rounded.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Adult specimens have been taken in May, July-August-September-October. 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.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hylesia subaurea larvae are highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae. In the final instar, the head is black, the skin brown and the scoli yellowish-brown.

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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