Prohylesia friburgensis is the specimen type for this genus, with eight species recognized as of 2018.

Draudt named the genus in 1929, and undoubtedly recognized a great similarity between these moths and some Hylesia species.

It is hoped that this chart will help me and others with id work. The descriptions on this page are for males. There are additional comments about the females on the individual species files.

Although I have images on my home computer for both genders of most species, I do not have permission to post all of those images. Many of the more recently described species are relatively common, and I hope to have additional images to add to the display over the years.

Prohylesia preruviana sixth instar, Peru, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

Thus far (December 20, 2021) the only Prohylesia species for which I have a larval image is Prohylesia preruviana. I expect larvae of the other east Andean species to be similar, but have no idea about the appearance of the Brazilian species.

The following five species are found in eastern Brazil. The first two have forewings with thicker, darker, more prominent am and pm lines. In the next three those lines are thinner and much less prominent

Prohylesia friburgensis male

Prohylesia friburgensis female

fwl: m: 18-21mm/f: 26-29mm; Brazil: Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina, 850m Fw gc: beigey-brown with wide, dark am & pm lines, both inwardly lined with creamy-white. fw pml: pre-apical, noticeably concave. hw gc: bright deep orange

Prohylesia bahiana male

bahiana female

fwl: m: 18-20mm/f: 27mm; Bahia; 150-750m very similar to friburgensis, but slightly darker; fw pml very dark, almost straight to slight s-shape; fw cell mark: thin dark bar. hw gc: more yellow-orange

bahikani male

bahikani female unknown but expected to be very similar to zikani

fwl: m: 17-21mm; Brazil: Bahia: Camacan; Mun. Marau; 150-750m; very similar to zikani, but darker brown areas and lighter beige areas, creating more contrast. hw: brighter rose compared to greyish rose of zikani

zikani male

zikani female

fwl:m: 19-23mm; f: 25-27mm; Brazil: Espirito Santo; Santa Catarina; Bahia; Sao Paulo; Minas Gerais; Parana; ?? Rio de Janeiro; 300-925m. forewing: beige with black dotting. darker brown median and subterminal regions. broadly preapical, thin, slightly undulating pm line; am line also thin. elongate, beige cell

rosalinda male

rosalinda sorry female unknown

fwl: m: 18-19mm; Brazil: Minas Gerais: Passa Quatro; Itamonte (CM); Santa Catarina; Parana; (probably Sao Paulo (WO??)). Carlos Mielke indicates size & location of dark marks in cell are variable. "Rosalinda is smaller, lighter in colour & quite rare." Fw pm line more markedly convex.

The following three species are described from eastern Peru and/or western Bolivia. It appears they are very similar to each other and are larger than the eastern Brazilian Prohylesia species.

carpishiana male sorry, male is still unknown

carpishiana female

Peru: Huanuco: Carpish Pass; 2800m; high elevation species female: fwl: 30mm; wingspan 59mm

peruviana male

peruviana female

Males and females are quite large. fwl: males: 26-31mm; females larger Peru: Cusco, and probably Puno; Bolivia: La Paz: Sud Yungas Possibly this species is replaced in Bolivia by H. yungana

yungana HT male

yungana female sorry, female, unknown

male fwl: 28-30mm. Very similar to peruviana, but yungana is known from Bolivia: La Paz: Nor Yungas at elevations from 1000-1800m. I note the forewing am line is outwardly convex (pm line also convex but less so) in yungana, but I do not know if this is a consistent character.

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