NORTHEAST BRAZIL: Pernambuco

Many thanks go to all the individuals who have contributed images and/or information and have helped with identifications and corrections to flesh out the active links listed below.

These provisional checklists of the different Saturniidae subfamilies/tribes have been largely created by going through the information provided in the four great Saturniidae works by the late Dr. Claude Lemaire of France: Attacidae (1978), Arsenurinae (1980), Ceratocampinae (1988) and Hemileucinae (2002). Dr. Lemaire's confirmations for Pernambuco are indicated with an asterisk (*).

I have made many of my own interpolations from those works, particularly if a species was described from surrounding Brazilian states or other nearby countries with a similar biome (). Those interpolations are followed by "?" to indicate I have no confirmed reports, but I anticipate the species has a range including the state of Pernambuco.

The Brazilian states in the North Region have not been sampled for Saturniidae nearly as well as those states in the South, Southeast, and Center-West Regions. I suspect there are many omissions in these listings, and there would also be many omissions in the Northeast Region which is also poorly sampled as of this writing, February 10, 2016.

Many new species have been described since the publications of Dr. Lemaire works and much effort has been made and continues to be made with revisions to the lists. Those species recently described in the Entomo-Satsphingia Journals: 2008-2015, by Brechlin & Meister have an (e) following their names.

This website is designed and maintained by Bill Oehlke who can be reached at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com. If you have additions, corrections, data, images, etc., please send to Bill Oehlke.

"The Pernambuco coastal forests occupy an 80 km-wide strip along the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas. The forests extend from near sea level to 600–800 metres (2,000–2,600 ft) in elevation, on the windward slopes of the Borborema Plateau. It is probably in the remains of these forests that most of the Saturniidae species fly.

"The Goiana River of Pernambuco marks the forests' northern extent, and the Mundaú River of Alagoas the southern extent.

"The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal Atlantic Coast restingas forests and Rio Piranhas mangroves. To the east, the forests transition to the drier Pernambuco interior forests and Caatinga.

"The ecoregion has a tropical climate with annual rainfall ranging from 1,750 to 2,000 mm. There is a dry period from October through January." Wiki

"The Pernambuco interior forests cover an area of 22,700 square kilometers (8,800 sq mi), extending across portions of Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Alagoas states. They extend from the Curimataú River in the north to the São Francisco River in the south.

"The Pernambuco interior forests lie inland from the Pernambuco coastal forests, extending from sedimentary plateaus near the coast up the eastern slopes of the Borborema Plateau. In the northern portion of the ecoregion, the interior forests lie close to the coast, just behind the coastal Rio Piranhas mangroves and Atlantic coast restingas.

"The climate is tropical. Annual rainfall ranges from 1,250 to 1,750 mm, with a dry season from October to March.

"The predominant forest type is the four-tiered (emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor) Atlantic semi-deciduous forest, with emergent trees reaching up to 35 metres (115 ft). Many trees shed their leaves during the October to March dry season.

Characteristic emergent and canopy trees include Astronium fraxinifolium (family Anacardiaceae), Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Leguminosae), Cordia trichotoma (Boraginaceae), and Tabebuia chrysotricha (Bignoniaceae). " Wiki

Unfortunately most of both forests have been cut for lumber and fuel.

"The inland region, called the sertão is high, stony, and dry, and frequently devastated by prolonged droughts (secas). The climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights. There are two clearly defined seasons, a rainy season from March to June, and a dry season for the remaining months.

The interior of the state is covered mostly by the dry thorny scrub vegetation called caatinga. The Rio São Francisco is the main water source for this area." Wiki

Arsenurinae Arsenura meander ? Paradaemonia balsasensis ? Paradaemonia berlai * Saturniinae none reported

Ceratocampinae Adeloneivaia minuta * Citheronia laocoon * Dacunju jucunda * Eacles imperialis cacicus * Eacles manuelita * Oiticella brevis * Othorene purpurascens ? Psilopygida walkeri * Ptiloscola cinerea * Scolesa nebulosa * Syssphinx molina ?

Hemileucinae Automeris a. amoena * Automeris bilinea Automeris naranja * Dirphia fraterna ? Dirphia moderata ? Dirphia tarquinia ? Eubergia argyrea Hyperchiria incisoides ? Psuedautomeris erubescens *

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