DISTRIBUTION:

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis (wingspan: males: 108-120mm; females: 118-120mm) (forewing length: males: 60-62mm // females: 62.6) flies in
southeastern Brazil: Parana (CM), Rio de Janeiro (NV), southeastern Minas Gerais (LV), Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina (CL), Rio Grande do Sul;
Argentina: Misiones (CM/RF/LCT); and
Paraguay: (UD) Concepcion (UD), San Pedro (UD), Canindeyu (UD), Caaguaza (UD), Alto Parana (UD), Guaira (UD), Caazapa (UD).

This species is distinguished from D. boreas by the submarginal line running from the inner angle to the base of the tail rather than extending deeply into the tail as in boreas. Genitalia are also slightly different. There are usually two irregular, non-ringed hyaline marks on the forewing, often with a small, darker area on the inner side of the the marks. The hindwing hyaline area is also non-ringed and tends to be very small. Because of the light overall colour and the more regular (i.e. circular), ringed hyaline marks on the forewing of the Paraguayan specimen below, I think it is more likely fosteri.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis/fosteri?? male, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel. copyright

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larry Valentine reports a January 26, 2011, flight in Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Specimens have been taken in January and February in Rio Grande do Sul. Nigel Voaden reports a late March flight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
March 24, 2014, courtesy of Nigel Voaden.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 26, 2011, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male (verso), Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 26, 2011, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, la Reserva Privada, San Sebastian,
de la Selva Andresito, Misiones, Argentina, courtesy of Luis Cesar Tejo.

Larvae probably accept same foods as D. boreas: Red silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), White silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) and Chorisia. Reinhard Foerster reports larvae feed on Bombax (Chorisia speciosa) in Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina. Visit Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male and early instars on Chorisia speciosa, courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis female, Missiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Carlos G. C. Mielke. copyright

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their antennae to locate females at night by tracking her airbourne pheromone plume.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, Misiones, Argentina,
from Entomo-Satsphingia 2 (1): 56 – 61 (März 2009), courtesy of Ron Brechlin.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
January 26, 2011, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis male, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

I expect the life history is similar to D. boreas, so I have included images and information for boreas below.

Eggs are apple green when first deposited but shortly turn red, maintaining a white-cream coloured equatorial line. The incubation is short in the tropical heat and lasts only six days.

Early instar larvae are well adorned with thoracic and anal horns and colouration is that of a bird dropping. I am convinced there is either an external intelligence or an internal one that provides for camouflage.

This third or fourth instar larva has picked up the rust-brown colouration of host stem junctures and may well hide in their proximity during the day. Yellow dorsal and lateral lines match the main leaf stems in colour.

Larval images are courtesy of Dan Janzen. The "horns", before their departure in the final instar, are coloured as and are the thickness of main stem veins.

In the final instar larvae are very plump and dorsal and lateral lines are perfect thickness and colour to match central leaf veins on Ceiba pentandra.

Larvae descend tree trunks at maturity to pupate in subterranean chambers. Larvae that pupate during the summer can eclose as moths in as few as sixteen days.

Dysdaemonia boreas larva, copyright protected, Kirby Wolfe.

Reinhard Foerster writes, "A female was collected at lights on December 6-7, 2010 in Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina, at an elevation of 520m.

"Larvae hatched approximately eleven days later on December 17-18 and fed on Chorisia especiosa.

"Larvae fed until January 25, 2011, when they began spinning cocoons.

"Development took only slightly more than two weeks, with moths emerging on February 9, 2011."

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis third instar, Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

Dysdaemonia brasiliensis third instars, Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

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.

Bombax ceiba Bombax speciosa (RF) Ceiba pentandra ....... Chorisia

Red silk cotton tree Bombax White silk cotton tree Chorisia

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 "Dysdaemonia" chosen by Hubner in 1819. It could be a combination meaning 'bad spirit'.

The species name "brasiliensis" is for the lectotype from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

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