Automeris submacula
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 Chris Conlan (Bamboo), April 2008
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; foodplants; RGDS); Alexandre Specht; Elio Corseuil; Aline Carraro Formentini
Updated as per personal communication with Augusto Rosa (larva, Campos do Jordao, Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 13, 2017), March 14, 2017
Updated as per personal communication with Eurides Furtado (larva id assistance), March 14, 2017

Automeris submacula
(Walker, 1855) Hyperchiria

Automeris submacula male, Paraguay courtesy/copyright Ulf Drechsel

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Automeris, Hubner, [1819]

DISTRIBUTION:

Automeris submacula (wingspan: males: 72-88mm; females: 73-93mm) flies in
Brazil: Sao Paulo: Campos do Jordao; Parana (CM); Rio Grande do Sul;
Paraguay: (Guaira and Paraguari (CL)), (Canindeyu, Alto Parana, Cordillera, Caaguazu (UD)), and possibly (Caazapa, and Itapua (WO?); and
Bolivia: Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz; in savannas and dry woodlands at elevations of 800 - 2100 m.

I would not be surprised if it is also found in northeastern Argentina: Misiones and Corrientes, although Lemaire indicates it has a disjunct distribution.

Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos sent me a paper in August 2015 which includes Automeris submacula in northwestern Argentina.

Note the narrow pale blue ring around the iris in the hindwing eyespot.

Automeris submacula male, Paraguay courtesy/copyright Ulf Drechsel

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in September-October-November-December.

Larvae can be fed on Robinia pseudoacacia.

Automeris submacula female, Cordillera (Bolivia), G. Lecourt

Automeris submacula female, Tobati, Cordillera, Paraguay, courtesy of Sergio Rios.

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 submacula male, Paraguay, courtesy of Chris Conlan.

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.

Automeris submacula final instar on bamboo, Paraguay, courtesy of Chris Conlan.

Automeris submaculata final instar, Campos do Jordao, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
March 13, 2017, Augusto Rosa, id by Eurides Furtado.

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.

Robinia pseudoacacia........
Bamboo (CC)

False acacia
Bamboo (CC)

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Automeris Genus