Automerella aurora
Updated as per Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, November 3, 2005
Updated as per personal communication with Carlos Mielke (Parana), April 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Luis Cesar Tejo (Misiones, Argentina); November 28, 2013
This page has been updated August 24, 2015, based on reference material for Argentina, sent to me by Ezequiel Bustos, as cited in a recent publication: NÚÑEZ: Catálogo preliminar de Saturniidae de Argentina TROP. LEPID. RES., 25(1): 22-33, 2015 31.
Updated as per ZOOLOGIA LEPIDÓPTEROS DE IMPORTÂNCIA MÉDICA OCORRENTES NO RIO GRANDE DO SUL. III. SATURNIIDAE – HEMILEUCINAE (flight months); Alexandre Specht; Elio Corseuil; Aline Carraro Formentini

Automerella aurora
awe-too-meh-RELL-uhMawe-ROAR-uh
(Maassen & Weyding, 1885) (Hyperchiria)

Automerella aurora male courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Automerella, Michener, 1949

MIDI MUSIC

"What.A.Wonderful.World"
copyright C. Odenkirk
MIDI CITY
ON.OFF
<bgsound src="world.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Automerella aurora (wingspan: males: 46-65mm; females: 54-70mm) is endemic to
southeastern Brazil: Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Parana (CM), Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina.

It is also confirmed now in
Argentina: Misiones, by Luis Cesar Tejo.

Automerella aurora male, Don Enrique Lodge, Saltos del Mocona, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Luis Cesar Tejo.

Automerella aurora male, Don Enrique Lodge, Saltos del Mocona, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Luis Cesar Tejo.

Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos sent me a paper in August 2015 which includes Automerella aurora in northeastern Argentina: Misiones.

It is interesting that in the images on this page and also in Lemaire's book that the "toe" of the male cell spot is turned outward to the postmedial line which touches the cell, whereas, in the female, the "toe" is pointed inward toward the body. Dr. Mielke's image of the female, below, shows no toe pointing.

Automerella aurora female, Rio Natal, 500 m, Sao Bento do Sul, SC, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths have been taken January-March-April and in July-August-September and November, suggesting at least two broods, maybe three or more annually.

Larvae will likely accept Fagus, Ligustrum, Quercus and Robinia pseudoacacia.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females probably call in the night-flying males via an airbourne pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen.

Automerella aurora female courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Larvae have urticating spines and are gregarious in their habits.

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.

Fagus
Ligustrum
Quercus
Robinia pseudoacacia.....

Beech
Privet
Oak
False acacia

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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 'Automerella', but it may have been for the likeness to small Automeris species.

The species name, 'aurora' probably comes from Roman mythology, where Aurora is goddess of the dawn. The bright colouration of the hindwing suggests a sunrise.