DISTRIBUTION:

Paradirphia winifredae (wingspan: males: 72mm; females: ) flies in
Costa Rica: Alajuela, Cartago, Puntarenas, San Jose (CL), Guanacaste, Heredia (IB); and
Panama: Chiriqui.

Paradirphia winifredae male, 72mm, Cartago, Costa Rica,
on my home computer only.

Paradirphia winifredae/herediana? male, Mount Totumas Cloud Forest, Chiriqui, Panama,
1600m +, courtesy of Jeffrey Dietrich.

In Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, the only Paradirphia species recorded for Panama is Paradirphia winifredae, which is also recorded from Chiriqui. Lemaire does not list P. semirosea from Panama, but the above specimen seems a better match for semirosea than for winifredae, especially due to the lilac/purplish shading in the lower half of the median area. P. winifredae is generally darker brown in colour and lacks purplish shading in median area, but maybe the lighting is playing tricks on me. The orange inward tracing of the pm line is a character of winifredae.

The Entomo-Satsphingia image shows a very strongly contrasting lighter outward tracing of the forewing pm line, consistent with the Panama and Costa Rica images on this page.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This species probably broods continuously.

Dan Janzen reports larvae feeding on Gonocalyx pterocarpus, Miconia lonchophylla, Vaccinium poasanum, Weinmannia burseraefolia and Weinmannia wercklei in Costa Rica.

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.

Paradirphia winifredae female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Paradirphia winifredae larvae are highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

Paradirphia winifredae, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen

Paradirphia winifredae, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen

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.

Gonocalyx pterocarpus Miconia lonchophylla Vaccinium poasanum Weinmannia burseraefolia ........ Weinmannia wercklei

Gonocalyx pterocarpus Miconia lonchophylla Vaccinium poasanum Weinmannia burseraefolia Weinmannia wercklei

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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 "Paradirphia" chosen by Michener in 1849, but it probably has to do with the similarity of these moths to those in the genus Dirphia.

The species name "winifredae" is honourific for a woman named Winifred.