Loepa paramiranda
Brechlin 2010

Loepa miranda (male), Nepal, probably paramiranda,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Loepa paramiranda HT male, 103mm, Sikkim, India,
on my home computer only.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Saturniini, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Genus: Loepa, Moore, 1860

MIDI MUSIC "Asian Spring Blossoms" ON.OFF <bgsound src="AsianSpringBlossoms.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Loepa paramiranda (wingspan: males: 103mm; females: // forewing length: males: 52-55mm; females: ) flies in
northern India: Sikkim;
and probably Nepal (WO?); and
possibly Bhutan.

This pair from Bhutan might be paramiranda, miranda, or an udescribed species from the miranda subgroup:

Loepa miranda subgroup pair, Bhutan,
female in foreground, courtesy of Sonam Dorji.

Loepa miranda subgroup pair, Bhutan,
male in foreground, courtesy of Sonam Dorji.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

I suspect the species is multiple brooded.

Larvae probably feed on Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) and possibly on Parthenocissus quinquefolia and Parthenocissus tricuspidata.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adults emerge in the early evening and fly rather weekly at night.

Females have larger bodies, fractionally finer antennae, and much more rounded and larger wings than males.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Larvae are dark, have urticating hairs and light coloured triangular patches on the sides.

Eggs overwinter. Larvae are dark, have urticating hairs and light coloured triangular patches on the sides.

They spin dense cocoons with an escape valve. The cocoons remind me of the inner cocoons of Hyalophora cecropia.

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.

Citrus reticulata Parthenocissus quinquefolia ....... Parthenocissus tricuspidata Vitis vinifera

Mandarin orange Parthenocissus quinquefolia Parthenocissus tricuspidata European wine grape

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