DISTRIBUTION:

Dirphiopsis multicolor inhabits
South-east Brazil: Espirito Santo; Rio de Janeiro: Tijuca Forest; Minas Gerais: Capim Branco (PDMC); Sao Paulo; Parana; Santa Catarina: Laurentino; Rio Grande Do Sul; at elevations around 800m.

Dirphiopsis multicolor male, Brazil,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Dirphiopsis multicolor male, Laurentino, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
November 19, 2016, courtesy of Miguel Angelo Biz.

Dirphiopsis multicolor male, Tijuca Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
May 8, 2016, courtesy of Laiza Mussap Cukier.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Flight times vary from year to year and coincide with the rainy season. Specimens have been taken in Santa Catarina in July and September, suggersting at least two broods annually. Patricia De Mendonca Goncalves reports a February flight in Capim Branco, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Larvae eat Gossypium herbaceum and Terminalia catappa.

Dirphiopsis multicolor female, Brazil,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Dirphiopsis multicolor female, Massaranduba, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
July 26, 2014, courtesy of Joao Amarildo Ranguetti.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

The female is much larger than the male. She has dark brown forewings with cream coloured harpoon markings. The wide outer band is also cream and the hind wings are much darker in color than those of the male.

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, Dirphiopsis species all have urticating spines.

Larval Food Plants

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.

Gossypium herbaceum...... Terminalia catappa

Levant cotton Tropical almond

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Visit additional Dirphiopsis multicolor images from Brazil.

Dirphiopsis multicolor male, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
September 23, 2016, courtesy of Francisco Estevao Carneiro.

Dirphiopsis multicolor male, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
September 23, 2016, courtesy of Francisco Estevao Carneiro.