Eacles kaechi
Updated as per Entomo Satsphingia Jahrgang 4 Heft 3 23.08.2011; January 29, 2012
Updated as per personal communication with Pia Oberg (Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador, March 2, 2011, 1480m); January 29, 2012; March 1, 2012

Eacles kaechi
EE-uh-kleesmKEYECH-eye
Brechlin & Meister 2011

Eacles kaechi, Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador,
March 2, 2011, 1480m, courtesy of Pia Oberg, id by Bill Oehlke

Eacles kaechi male, Napo, Ecuador,
on my home computer only.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841
Genus: Eacles, Hübner, [1819]

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DISTRIBUTION:

Eacles kaechi (approximate wingspan: males: 116-118mm; females: larger) flies in
eastern Ecuador: Napo: Rio Hollin: Susanita.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Adult specimens have been taken in (March, PO) and December-(January, PO). There are likely additional flight months.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females, which are much plainer than males, probably mate around 10:00 P.M., and the pair remains coupled until the following evening. Upon separation, the females begin their ovipositing flights.

Earlier Pia Oberg had sent me a male Eacles from WildSumaco. When I received the new descriptions in the Entomo Satsphingia journals, I determined it to be one of the new species, Eacles kaechi, and it is posted at top of this page.

More recently Pia sent me the images of a female Eacles posted below, suggesting that it might be Eacles penelope.

Eacles kaechi? female, Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador,
January 16, 2012, courtesy of Pia Oberg,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke as per notes above.

I have looked at other images of Eacles penelope on site, and cannot rule out that species for the new female, although I think distance from pm line to anal angle on most recent female is less than typical for penelope.

Eacles kaechi? female, Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador,
January 16, 2012, courtesy of Pia Oberg,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke as per notes above.

I have ruled out all other Ecuador possibilities except kaechi and fulvaster oriecuadoriana. I do have a female of fulvaster fulvaster and I would expect fulvaster oriecuadoriana to be quite similar to it, and therefore quite different from the female images Pia has sent.

I am therefore going to post the images to Eacles kaechi page (female of that species is unknown). Male has pm line very close to anal angle so it is likely that female does too. Also kaechi is closely allied to masoni group and your female is very close to masoni females. So my first choice is Eacles kaechi and second choice is Eacles penelope.

Eacles kaechi? female, Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador,
January 16, 2012, courtesy of Pia Oberg,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke as per notes above.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Semi-translucent green eggs, girdled with a black band, are deposited singly or in small clusters of up to six. The larvae become visible through the egg shells a day or so before emerging.

Larvae are solitary in their feeding habits. At maturity larvae descend trees to pupate in underground chambers.


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.

Liquidambar
Quercus
Prunus domestica .......

Sweetgum
Oak
Plum

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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", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

I do not know the source of the genus name "Eacles", but it may be a combination of "Ea", the Greek word for gods and goddesses and the Greek suffix "cles", meaning 'glory of'.

The species name "kaechi" is honourific for Horst Kaech.