Dirphia crassifurca
Updated as per Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, November 14, 2005
Updated as per personal communication from Horst Kach, August 21, 2006
Updated as per "Description of two new species of Dirphia Hubner, [1819] with notes on Dirphia crassifurca Lemaire, 1971 and Dirphia horca Dognin, 1894" in
SHILAP Revta. lepid., 33 (129), 2005: 39-44, L. Racheli & T. Racheli, courtesy of Luigi Racheli, September 2007
Updated as per personal communication with Jorge J. Restrepo A, (Madellin, Antioquia, Colombia); April 3, 2013

Dirphia crassifurca
DIRF-ee-uhMkrass-sih-FURK-uh
Lemaire, 1971

Dirphia crassifurca male, Venezuela,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck;
same specimen illustrated in ESs journal as crassifurca.

TAXONOMY:

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

DISTRIBUTION:

Dirphia crassifurca (wingspan: males: 60-74mm; females: 84-89mm) is a montane species (1500 - 2400m) that flies in
western Venezuela: Merida (HT) at moderate elevations;
northeastern Ecuador: Napo: San Isidro (LC), and Morona Santiago and probably Sucumbios and Pastaza, and in
Colombia: Antioquia, Santander and Caldas.

It is quite possible that the range of crassifurca is much more limited (possibly just western Venezuela) than expressed above. Recent (2011) DNA barcoding has resulted in descriptions of several new species from Colombia and Ecuador. However, Dirphia crassifurca is the best match I can find for the following specimen. Bill Oehlke

Dirphia crassifurca ?? male, Madellin, Antioquia, Colombia,
July 30, 2011, courtesy of Jorge J. Restrepo A.
tentative id and digital repair to left fw apex by Bill Oehlke.

The antemedial line is relatively close to the thorax near the costa and runs obliquely to the inner margin, creating a large brown median area.

Racheli and Racheli (2005) indicate that the "D. crassifurca" from Caldas and Santander departments of Colombia, probably are "two further different species".

Claude Lemaire, Hemileucinae 2002, indicates this species is very similar to Dirphia horca which so far is only known from Zamora-Chinchipe Province in southeastern Ecuador and San Martin Province and Amazonas Province in Peru.

Leamire writes that horca consistently has a yellow stria in the upper branch of white "Y", and there is always a yellow tip to lower branch of "Y" where it intersects the am line.

He indicates neither of these characters are present in D. crassifurca although the males sometimes have the yellow stria as per the image in his Hemileucinae 2002.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in February-March-April, June, September and December, suggesting three or four broods annually. Larvae feed upon Rhus in captivity.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are laid in large clusters and larvae feed gregariously. Typical of the Subfamily Hemileucinae, Dirphia species all have urticating spines.

Dirphia crassifurca 5l, Caldas, Colombia,
2400m, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

Foodplants

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.

Rhus .......

Sumac

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Dirphia Index

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 "Dirphia" chosen by Hubner in 1819.

The species name "crassifurca", comes from the Latin combination for 'thick' and 'fork' and refers to the thick, creamy white 'fork' in the median area.