Copiopteryx semiramis montei
koh-pee-oh-TER-icksMsem-ih-RAM-ihsMMON-tee-eye
Gagarin, 1933

Copiopteryx semiramis montei male, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

DISTRIBUTION:

Copiopteryx semiramis montei (forewing wingspan: males: 88-109mm; females: 94mm) flies in
central Brazil: Goias; Mato Grosso (EF); Minas Gerais: Pompeu (cerrado)(?LA); Jaboticatubas (cerrado)(CP); Maranhao (cerrado)(EJ/CM).

This subspecies has shorter broader tails and purplish tints in the lighter areas on the otherwise deep brown wings. It flies in cerrado biomes.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei male, Feira Nova do Maranhao (cerrado), Maranhao, Brazil,
October 30, 2011, courtesy of Elyana Joerke, via husband Carlos Mielke.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei male, Maranhao, Brazil,
Thibaud Decaens.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Copiopteryx semiramis montei flies late at night and is bivoltine in central Brazil with flights in January-March and October-December. Males come in to mercury vapour lights much more readily than females.

Eurides Furtado reports larvae feed on Pouteria ramiflora and Pouteria caimito.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei female, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado

I have tentatively identified the moth to the left as subspecies montei, mostly due to location in cerrado/savannah region in Pompeu, Minas Gerais. The forewing hyaline areas also suggest montei. August 22, 2016 courtesy of Luiz Alberto.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei female, Jaboticatubas (cerrado), Minas Gerais, Brazil,
courtesy of Celso Paiva, montei subspecies by Bill oehlke.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females have much shorter hind wing tails than males do, and emit a pheromone at night to "call" in the males.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei female, Goias, Brazil, courtesy of Frank Meister.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Early instar larvae are spiny and hatch from eggs after approximately fourteen days of development.

Tiny larvae feed on leaf tips from underside veins.

Larvae pass through six instars with elongated scoli and "anal horn" disappearing in the final instar.

Copiopteryx semiramis montei fifth instar, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado

Copiopteryx semiramis montei sixth instar, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado

Pupation is in early (pre-dawn) morning in subterranean chambers. Copiopteryx semiramis montei pupa, Mato Grosso, Brazil, courtesy of Eurides Furtado

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) from personal communication (Eurides Furtado). 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.

Pouteria ramiflora....... Pouteria caimito

Macaranduba Yellow star apple/Caimito

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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.

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 male friend/collector/etc.

The genus name "Copiopteryx" comes from the Greek word "pterygion" for wing.

The species name "semiramis" is probably from Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod and queen of Babylon. The subspecies name "montei" is to honour Dr. O. Monte, possibly an early collector or colleague.