I am not completely comfortable with the identification of the above moth. The pmline seems a bit too preapical and the forewing tip a bit too pronounced for Lemaire's description of A. vomona. See the image below.

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:

the Automeris vomona moth (wingspan: males: 58-75mm; females: 67-79mm) flies in
Venezuela: Distrito Federal, Merida, Tachira;
Colombia: Antioquia, Santander, Cundinamarca and Boyaca; and
possibly into Ecuador: (nr vomona Zamora Chinchipe (LR)) as a montane species, flying at elevations between 2000-3000m, possibly even higher (up to 3600m).

Automeris vomona vomona male, courtesy of Viktor Suter,
via Bernhard Wenczel.

Automeris vomona vomona male, La Culata, Merida, Venezuela,
3600m, January 3, 2017, courtesy of Jessica Salinas, via Renato Mattei,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in January-February-March-April, June-July-August-September-October, December.

Natural hosts are unknown; in the lab it has been fed on Robinia pseudoacacia.

Automeris vomona, female, courtesy of Viktor Suter,
via Bernhard Wenczel.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

View series of spread specimens from Cundinamarca, Colombia, that are either Automeris vomona or Automeris zugana, courtesy of Rodrigo Torres Nunez.

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.

The green, brown, and white longitudinal body stripes are often masked by extensive, branching green or yellow spines in the final instar.

Wider antennae of the male are evident in this "cut away" view of the pupa. All images on this page are courtesy of Bernhard Jost.

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.......

False acacia

Automeris vomona, larva, courtesy of Viktor Suter,
via Bernhard Wenczel.

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Automeris genus