SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL: Sao Paulo
Biomes of Brazil
Homoeopteryx syssauroides male, Juquitiba, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
February 8, 2016, courtesy of Marcelo Massari, id by Bill Oehlke
Oxytenis bicornis male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
January 11, 2015, courtesy of Enio Branco.
Copaxa mielkeorum male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
October 1, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.
Copaxa flavobrunnaea male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
October 1, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.
Automeris melanops male, Juquitiba, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
February 8, 2016, courtesy of Marcelo Massari, id by Bill Oehlke
This page is inspired by the photographic efforts of Enio Branco (b) and Marcelo Massari (m) who have helped to confirm the Saturniidae species present in
Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Many thanks also go to the other individuals (Dr. Arthur Anker; Ron Brechlin; Philippe Brems; Mike Buczkowski; Ezequiel Bustos; James Colborn (j);
Chris Conlan; Thibaud Decaens; Carlot Didier;
Ulf Drechsel; Brian Fletcher;
Reinhard Foerster; Eurides Furtado; Jean Haxaire; Evgeny V. Komarov; Daniel Rojas Lanus; Roy MacIntyre; John Marchant; Hubert Mayer;
Carlos Mielke (c); Jose Monzon; Pia Oberg; of Fernando Penco; Leroy Simon; Norm Smith; Paul Smith; Viktor Suter;
Luis Cesar Tejo; Gerrit Tuinstra; Andres Urbas; Larry Valentine; Eric van Schayck; Alain Van Vyve; Nigel Venters; Nigel Voaden; Bernhard Wenczel; Kirby Wolfe; Rich Young; and others)
who have contributed images and information and have helped with identifications and corrections to flesh out the active links listed below.
These provisional checklists of the different Saturniidae subfamilies 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 Sao Paulo are indicated with *.
I have made many of my own interpolations from those works, particularly if a species was described from both Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro to the north and
Santa Catarina to the south. Those interpolations are followed by "?" to indicate I have no confirmed reports, but I anticipate the
species might have a range including the state of Sao Paulo.
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.
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 climate of Sao Paulo is tropical to subtropical, altitude being the largest contributor to what variation there is. The capital, Sao Paulo City, barely
outside the tropics in the south of the state and about 780 m (2,559 ft) above sea level, has daily minima and maxima averaging about 18 °C (64 °F) and
28 °C (82 °F) respectively at the warmest time of year and about 11 °C (52 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F) respectively at the coolest time of year.
Temperatures reach around 33 °C (91 °F) on the hottest days and fall as low as 6 °C (43 °F) on the coldest nights.
In the low-lying northwest of the state, temperatures average around 4 °C (7 °F) higher.
Saturniidae can fly just about year round in Sao Paulo and with its great diversity of habitat, high and low elevation species can all be present.
There are occasional frosts in some areas.
Sao Paulo is bordered to its north and north central by Minas Gerais, to its northeast by Rio de Janeiro, to its south by Parana, to its west by
Mato Grosso do Sul and to its east by the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point is the Pedra da Mina, located in the Serra da Mantiqueira, its altitude is 2797m.
Approximately 85% of SP is located between 300 and 900 meters. Its relief is divided into the Coastal Plain: it can be very narrow, near
the city of Santos and reaching its maximum extent in the valley of the Ribeira do Iguape river, where it reaches 60 km.
Serra do Mar: located between the coastal plain and the plateau. From Santos to the border with Rio de Janeiro form a wall
that descends almost vertically on the coastal plain and in some cases, directly on the sea. Santos towards the south of the state, what you see are
mountainous ridges and narrow valleys. Crystalline plateau: it is the south eastern region of Sao Paulo plateau, has regular topography,
but also mountain and hill crests, and that is where are located the hills of Mantiqueira, massive Bocaina and Stone Mine. Paulista West plateau:
It occupies about half of the land mass of the state of São Paulo, the altitude of the plateau falls from 700 to 300 m, as far as we advance in the
east west direction.
The climate varies according to latitude and altitude, Jordan Fields, located at 1600 m above sea level, may experience freezing temperatures in the winter.
Cities such as Ribeirao Preto and Sao Jose do Rio Preto, temperatures easily pass the 33 ° C in summer days.
Sao Paulo can be divided into three zones (one of them sub-divided in another three): a narrow coastal zone; an abrupt mountain chain (Serra do Mar) which
clearly separates the coast from the interior lands; the interior plateau, which spans from Serra do Mar until the western border of the state (actually,
Serra do Mar is just the abrupt border of the plateau).
At Serra do Mar, altitudes vary between 800 and 1100 meters; there is an abrupt fall towards the coast and a light slope towards the west. The plateau has
three distinct sections: the area surrounding Serra do Mar has a basement of granitic rocks; a profound valley (about 200 m deep), called Depressão Interior,
also running from south-west to north-east, separating two neighbour plateaus; the occidental plateau (Planalto Ocidental), which covers about half of the State,
from the Depression to the western boundaries.
The Tropic of Capricorn passes right over the city of Sao Paulo; climate of the State is tropical, with some variations caused by altitude.
Along the coastline, average temperature is 20 degrees, and pluviosity (rainfall) is over 2,000 mm, with rains well distributed along the year. The western plateau has
the same average temperature, but pluviosity (rainfall) is between 1,000 and 1,250 mm. In the areas of higher altitude (Serra do Mar and surroundings, which includes the
city of Sao Paulo), temperature is slightly lower (yearly average of 18 degrees), and pluviosity is between 1,250 and 2,000 mm.
Pedra da Mina is the fifth highest mountain in Brazil and the second in the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain ranges located in the border of the states of
Minas Gerais and São Paulo.
With 2798.39 m elevation (revised measurement satellite / GPS by IBGE in 2004), is the highest point of Serra da Mantiqueira and the
state of São Paulo, and the third highest mountain in the state of Minas Gerais.
Near the mountain, there is the Ruah valley, the highest valley in Brazil and the Rio Claro spring, located at 2,500 metres above sea level, the highest river
spring in Brazil.
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Visit Ceratocampinae Comparison Table: Citheronia, Citheronula, Eacles, Procitheronia
Visit Ceratocampinae Comparison Table: Small Moths: Cicia, Psilopygida, Ptiloscola
The moths in this group are small, having a forewing length under one inch = 25mm; wingspan less than 2 inches or 50mm.
Visit Ceratocampinae Comparison Table: Medium-sized Moths: Adeloneivaia, Adelowalkeria, Almeidella,
Megaceresa, Neorcarnegia, Oiticella, Othorene, Schausiella, Scolesa, Syssphinx
The moths in this group are medium-szed, having a forewing length over one inch = over 25mm; wingspan less than 3.5 inches = 83mm.
Visit Hemileucinae Comparison Table: Automerella, Automeris, Automeropsis, Pseudautomeris
Visit Sphingidae of Brazil.
I am also very interested in Sphingidae and will begin to post links (below) to the Sphingidae species of Brazil when I am presented with
Sphingidae images from Sao Paulo. With help from many people, we may be able to compile a comprehensive checklist for Sao Paulo Sphingidae.
Enyo gorgon, Pinhalzinho, Sao Paulo, Brazil, April 22, 2016, courtesy of Paula Larizzatti.
Eumorpha fasciatus, Aracatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 11, 2016, courtesy of Luiz Walter Costa Neto?.
