Dirphiopsis unicolor
Updated as per Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, August 16, 2006
Updated as per personal communication with Horst Kach (March, Gualaceo-Mendez, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador), November 2008

Dirphiopsis unicolor
DIRF-ee-op-sisMyou-nee-KUL-lur
Lemaire, 1982

Dirphiopsis unicolor male, Macas - Guaruma km58, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador,
May 14, 2010, 2250m, courtesy of Horst Kach.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Dirphiopsis, Bouvier, 1928

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DISTRIBUTION:

Dirphiopsis unicolor (wingspan: males: 62-72mm; females: 83-84mm) flies in
Ecuador: Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe; and
Peru: San Martin and probably western Loreto; on the eastern slopes of the Andes at elevations around 2100m to 2400m.

This species is dark brown and has the purplish shades of am and pm areas absent or greatly reduced as compared to similar species.

Dirphiopsis unicolor male, Gualaceo-Mendez, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador,
March 5, 2008, 2240m, courtesy of Horst Kach.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing January, February, early March (HK), mid may (HK) and December, possibly as a single brood at high elevation. Horst kach has recently sent a specimen taken May 14, suggesting at least two annual broods. Larval hosts are unknown.

Dirphiopsis unicolor male, Gualaceo-Mendez, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador,
March 5, 2008, 2240m, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Dirphiopsis unicolor male (verso), Gualaceo-Mendez, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador,
March 5, 2008, 2240m, courtesy of Horst Kach.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use highly developed antennae to locate females by tracking their airbourne pheromone plumes.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

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

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing (not available as yet), followed by the common name of the foodplant, will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

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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", honoura contempory friend/collector/etc.

Dirphipopsis was probably chosen as the genus name due to similarity of these moths to those in Dirphia genus. I do not know the source of the genus name Dirphia chosen by Hubner in 1819.

The species name, unicolor, is for the almost uniform reddish-brown colouration of the wings. There is a diffuse yellowish-brown area in th emarginal submarginal area of all four wings.

Dirphiopsis unicolor male, 62mm, Morona Santiago, Ecuador,
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