DISTRIBUTION:

Lemaireodirphia oaxacana (wingspan: males: 80mm; females: 84mm // forewing length: males: 40-45mm; females: 43mm) flies in
Mexico: Oaxaca; at elevations near 1020-2200m.

This moth is very similar to L. hoegei but Lemaireodirphia oaxacana has an almost uniform light, bright brown ground colour with tinge of red. The thin diffuse black pm line is inwardly lined with white , running straight from costa to M2-M3, with slight inturn and concave run to A1 where it turns slightly inward to inner margin.

Visit Lemaireodirphia Comparison Chart.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larvae possibly feed on Platanus lindeniana, Prunus, Pyrus malus, Robinia pseudoacacia and Salix chilensis.

This species is on the wing in June-July and September-October, probably as at least two broods. There may be additional flight months.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

Lemaireodirphia oaxacana female, 84mm, Mexico,
on my home computer only.

Lemaireodirphia oaxacana female, Mexico,
courtesy of Viktor Suter and Bernhard Wenczel, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

The specimen directly above was originally labelled as Paradirphia hoegei, but I believe it is more likely one of the recently (2012) described Lemaireodirphia species, possibly L. oaxacana. Bill Oehlke

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Lemaireodirphia albida larvae are 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 anticipated foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Platanus lindeniana Prunus Pyrus malus Robinia pseudoacacia..... Salix chilensis

Plane Cherry Apple Black locust/False acacia Willow

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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.

The genus name "Lemaireodirphia" is both honourific of Claude Lemaire and indicative of a great similarity to moths in the genus Dirphia.

The species name "oaxacana" is indicative of a specimen type locale in Oaxaca, Mexico.

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