DISTRIBUTION:

Giacomellia inversa (wingspan: males: 38mm; females: 53mm) flies in
Argentina: La Rioja and Santiago del Estero, and may be a morph of bilineata as all that appears different is the forewing ground colour is dark in inversa with a white bar paralleling the costa. These two features are exactly the opposite in bilineata.

Brechlin and Meister, 2011, confirm that inversa is a melanic form of Giacomellia bilineata and not a distinct species.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Giacomellia inversa flies in November and may also have flights in January and May.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Night-flying females lay translucent 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.

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.

Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.

Return to Giacomellia Genus

Return to South American Saturniidae Directory

Return to Main WLSS 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 "inversa" is indicative of the reversed colouration of the forewing as compared to bilineata.