DISTRIBUTION:

Automeris moresca (wingspan: males: 70-86mm; females: 102-114mm) flies in tropical rain forest from sea level to 1250m in the Guyano-Amazonian region:
French Guiana: Camopi, Cayenne, Regina, Belizon, Cacao, Coralie, St. Elie, Kourou, Sinnamary, Acarouany, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, (Camp Caiman, road to Kaw, WO);
Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar;
Ecuador: Napo and Sucumbios (LTR); Zamora-Chinchipe (PO)
Peru ??;
Brazil: Para, Amazonas, (probably Amapa and Roraima, WO??).

It probably also flies in Guyana and Surinam.

Automeris moresca female, French Guiana, courtesy of Carlot Didier.

French Guiana is the specimen type locality.

Automeris moresca male, French Guiana, courtesy of Carlot Didier.

Lemaire groups moresca, themis, tristis and phrynon as having abdomens that are usually orange-ringed (light or dark), matching the basal area of the hindwings. The forewing postmedial line is only slightly preapical. The hw eyespot is usually ringed with yellow.

Themis, a small species, has a relatively broad yellow ring around the hindwing eyespot; tristis has a very dark basal median area (male) on the hindwing with the female being uniformly dark; phrynon has a distinct wing shape and pattern.

Automeris moresca male, Camp Caiman, road to Kaw, French Guiana,
Aprl 28, 2011, courtesy of Andres Urbas, id by Bill Oehlke.

Automeris moresca has a squarish, greyish-orange-brown forewing, only scarcely produced at the apex. The pm line, inwardly lined with a thin yellowish-orange scaling, meets the inner margin quite close to the anal angle. The am line is zigzagged and runs obliquely from the costa to the midpoint of the inner margin. The fw cell spot is grey and is oriented perpendicular to the costa.

The pupil of the hindwing eyespot is small and is usually well covered with white scaling. The iris is dark brown, and sometimes the eyespot is thinly lined with yellow.

Automeris moresca, male, Manaus, (Amazonas), Brazil, February 2004, courtesy of Tom Binter.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths have been taken in January-February, April, June-August and November-December, suggesting three-four broods at least.

Larvae feed on Robinia pseudoacacia, Salix and Prunus laurocerasus. Larvae have also been reared on Pyracantha and Gleditsia triacanthos

Automeris moresca male, French Guiana, courtesy of Carlot Didier.

Automeris moresca (female), Venezuela, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

http://www.saturniidae-mundi.de/Oschayck/schayck.htm

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their more highly developed antennae to seek out females who release an airbourne pheromone into the night sky.

Automeris moresca courtesy of Entomo Service

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE: Eggs are deposited in clusters of 6-40+ on hostplant twigs. Larvae have urticating spines and are gregarious, especially in the early instars.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. 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.

Prunus laurocerasus Robinia pseudoacacia..... Salix

Kirschlorbeer Black locust/False acacia Willow

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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.

I am not aware of the source for Automeris, but moresca is the name of a dance, and may have been chosen to refer to the elaborate costumes the dancers would wear.

Automeris moresca male, Belizon, French Guiana, Robert Vande Merghel,
January, on my home computer only, photo copyright Rene Lahousse.

Automeris moresca male, Cacao, French Guiana, August, Jean Paul Passelecq,
on my home computer only, photo copyright Rene Lahousse.

Automeris moresca female, Coralie, French Guiana, November, Jean Paul Passelecq,
on my home computer only, photo copyright Rene Lahousse.