DISTRIBUTION:

Giacomellia bilineata (wingspan: males 33-41mm; females: 41-50mm) flies in
Argentina: Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, La Rioja, Cordoba (NV), Formosa: Rìo Pilcomayo National Park (ENB); Neuquen and Entre Rios; and
Bolivia: Cochabamba and Chuquisaca; and
Paraguay UD: Alto Paraguay, Boqueron, Presidente Hayes, Concepcion, and possibly Asuncion and Central.

Lemaire, Ceratocampinae, 1987, only lists Argentina and Bolivia. It is interesting that the image from Paraguay shows no spotting near the anal angle of the forewings.

Giacomellia species, 48mm, Argentina, courtesy of Frank Meister.

Giacomelia bilineata male, Cordoba, Argentina,
Adriana Inés Zapata, via Nigel Venters.

Brechlin and Meister, 2011, differentiated between the species with no speckling on the forewings and an all white hindwing (G. bilineata), and the somewhat similar new species G. vanschaycki, which has red-brown speckling on the forewings and a reddish-brown hindwing. I have moved the G. vanschaycki images previously depicted on this page to their own file.

Brechlin and Meister also indicate that Giacomellia inversa is just a melanic form of G. bilineata.

I am wondering about the two images from Argentina, directly above. Either they are variations of bilineata, or they are something as yet undescribed. Note: one specimen has two dark line on the thorax and and almost pure white abdomen, while the other seems to have three dark lines on the thorax and a very red abdomen.

Perhaps the differences are due to wear and slight digital manipulations.

Giacomellia bilineata male, Paraguay,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Giacomellia bilineata flies in January, May and October, suggesting at least three broods annually.

Larvae feed upon Prosopis nigra.

Giacomellia bilineata male, San Lorenzo, Paraguay,
August, 2009, courtesy of Paul Smith.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adult Giacomellia bilineata moths emerge from subterranean pupae, and males are slightly smaller than females.

Giacomellia bilineata, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Night-flying females lay white-banded, translucent, slightly flattened sperical, green eggs on host plant leaves. The developing larvae can be seen through the egg shells.

Larvae pupate underground in small chambers.

Care of larvae and pupae should be as for any Neotropical species.

Giacomellia bilineata, eggs, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel

Giacomellia bilineata, Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel

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.

Prosopis nigra......

Acacia of Catherine/Mesquite

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Giacomellia 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.

Ezequiel Osvaldo Nunez Bustos writes, "The name of the genus is honouorific for an Italian entomologist that lived many years in La Rioja Province. His name was Eugenio Giacomelli, and he described some new species in the areas of La Rioja and Cordoba."

The species name "bilineata" is indicative of the two dark lines on the forewing.