DISTRIBUTION:

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix (forewing wingspan: males: 95-106mm; females: larger) flies in
southeastern Brazil: eastern Minas Gerais; Espirito Santo: Sooretama (LM); Rio de Janeiro: Cabo Frio (DL); Alagoas: Ibateguara (CM); Bahia (A&FW) Sao Paulo: Tapirai (EB), Miracatu (CM), Cafezal (PSC).

I suspect there are also populations in eastern Sergipe and Bahia (confirmed in Bahia by Anna and Frank West), in the Atlantic forests.

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix male, Tapirai, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
November 14, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix male (verso), Tapirai, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
November 14, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.

This is a larger subspecies with long narrow tails. Basic ground colour is a light chestnut with hints of rose rather than purple tints.

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix male, 97mm, Instituto Uiracu, Camacan, Bahia, Brasil,
September, 2011, 800m, courtesy of Anna & Frank West

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix flies late at night. Thibaud Decaens indicates a February flight. Enio Branco reports a November flight in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Leo Mercon reports a November flight in Espirito Santo. Paula S. Clarizzatti reports a December flight in Cafezal, Sao Paulo. Diogo Luiz reports a January flight in Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kirby Wolfe reports, "All of the Copiopteryx feed on Sapotaceae, the sapote family, and I reared mine (jehovah and semiramis) on Chico Sapote (Manilkara chicle)."

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix female, courtesy of Carlos Mielke
Ibateguara, Alagoas, Brazil. copyright.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females have much shorter hind wing tails than males (130 mm) do, and emit a pheromone at night to "call" in the males.

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix male, Tapirai, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
November 14, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.

Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix male, Tapirai, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
November 14, 2014, courtesy of Enio Branco.

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.

Pupation is in early (pre-dawn) morning in subterranean chambers.

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.

Manilkara chicle .......

Chico Sapote

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Visit additional Copiopteryx semiramis phoenix images from eastern Brazil.

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.

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 "phoenix" is associated with the mythological creature Phoenix, which had the appearance of an eagle, both in shape and size, and whose plumage was partly golden, and partly red.