Arsenura rebeli
Ar-sen-OOR-uhMre-BEL-eye
Gschwandner, 1920

Arsenura rebeli female courtesy of Leroy Simon

DISTRIBUTION:

The Arsenura rebeli moth (wingspan: males: 151-180mm; females: 165-203mm) flies in
eastern Ecuador: Sucumbios WO, Napo CL (common (LR)), Orellana WO, Pastaza WO, Tungurahua CL, Morona Santiago CL, Zamora Chinchipe; and in
western Peru: Huanuco, Junin, Cuzco and possibly Pasco and Puno; and
Bolivia: Santa Cruz and possibly La Paz (confirmed by Lars Andersen) and Cochabamba at low elevations (below 1000m), east of the Andes.

Locations followed by my intitials (WO) indicate a speculative range, without confirmed reports.

Arsenura rebeli male, Taipiplaya, LaPaz, Bolivia,
January-February 2007, 810m, courtesy of Lars Andersen,
id and digital repair by Bill Oehlke.

The wings are squarish and of a uniform deep brown with a greyish zone in baso-median area and a lighter area along the costa. The median band is concave, inwardly hi-lighted by a thin band of light scales, and there are additional lobes on M2 and M1. In almost all cases there are "halos" (lighter areas) outlining the projections of the forewing lobes into the subterminal area.

Arsenura rebeli male, Coviriali, Junin, Peru,
October 14, 2008, 662m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

I am pretty sure the image below from Carasco, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 1450m is one of Arsenura rebeli.

Arsenura rebeli male, Carasco, Cochabamba, Bolivia,
wingspan: 165.79mm, courtesy of Kelly Price.

Arsenura rebeli male, Ecuador, courtesy/copyright of Leroy Simon.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Vladimir Izersky reports an October flight in Junin, Peru. I suspect this moth is probably on the wings in several other months, probably as two or three generations per year.

Vladimir has also sent an image of a female Arsenura rebeli, taken on January 3, 2009 in Rio Venado, Junin, Peru.

Larvae of Arsenura rebeli eat Tilia.

Arsenura rebeli male courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Arsenura rebeli male, Ecuador, courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

Arsenura rebeli female, Ecuador, courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males (above) which are smaller than females and have "tails" (tails in this species are reduced) on the lower wings, use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Mature larvae descend tree trunks to excavate and pupate in subterranean chambers.

Arsenura rebeli first instar, Hollin, Napo, Ecuador,
February 19, 2008, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Arsenura rebeli second instar, Coviriali, Junin, Peru,
November 7, 2008, 662m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

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.

Tilia......

Basswood/Lime/Linden

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 "Arsenura" chosen by Duncan in 1841.

The species name "rebeli" is honourific for Rebel.

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