DISTRIBUTION:

Almeidella corrupta (wingspan: males: 58-75mm; females: 84-88mm) flies in
southeastern Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, probably Minas Gerais (RSL&CM), Parana (CM) (JS), Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul; and in
southeastern Paraguay: Itapua (PS).

Almeidella corrupta male, 65mm, Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
December 2013, courtesy of Philippe Brems, id by Bill Oehlke.

The dull brown forewing is speckled with black, and the white discal spot may be absent.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Almeidella corrupta flies in September-October, and into December. Philippe Brems confirms a December flight in Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Jhonatan Santos confirms a December flight in Campo Magro, Parana, Brazil.

Larval hosts are unknown.

Almeidella corrupta, PN San Rafael, Itapua, Paraguay, courtesy of Paul Smith.

Almeidella corrupta female, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Almeidella corrupta female, Claude Lemaire, on my home computer only.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adult Almeidella corrupta moths emerge from subterranean pupae, and males are slightly smaller than females.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Night-flying females lay translucent eggs on host plant leaves. The developing larvae can be seen through the egg shells.

Larvae pupate underground in small chambers.

Care of larvae and pupae should be as for any Neotropical species.

Almeidella ??? larva, Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
November 9, 2021. courtesy of Wolfgang Walz.

The identity of the larva directly above is in question. Wolfgang Walz indicates it is a Scolesa (nebulosa?) species while Ryan St. Laurent indicates it is an Almeidella species. I do not have larval images of any Almeidella or Scolesa species for comparison, nor do I have written descriptions of such larvae. I believe Pedro Leopoldo is in cerrado habitat, which is more likely home to some of the Scolesa species, but I am not at all sure. Help would be appreciated.

Update: Ryan St. Laurent is sure it is an Almeidella species, and I have requested documentation from him if it is available. Ryan has also indicated he thinks it is most likely Almeidella corrupta, so I will also add the image to the corrupta file.

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.

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Ameidella Index

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" or "ee", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

I do not know the source of the genus name "Almeidella" but it probably comes from Almeida, a family name in Brazil. Since Almeidaia had already been utilized for a genus in the Arsenurinae family, Almeidella was chosen for this genus.

The origin of the species name "corrupta" is unknown to me.