DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia aeneides (wingspan: males: 40-60mm; females 58-62mm) flies in
Panama: Chiriqui;
Costa Rica: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose (IB: 50m -1550m);
southern Nicaragua: Zelaya;
Venezuela;
French Guiana: Cacao, Cayenne;
Colombia: Nariono;
Ecuador: Esmeraldas, Pichincha, Canar, Napo, Morona-Santiago and probably Pastaza; 500-1800m;
Peru: San Martin, Cusco; and
Bolivia: La Paz;
and probably also in Guyana and Surinam.

It has been taken at elevations from 400 - 1800m.

Hylesia aeneides male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

The thorax is dorsally brown. The abdomen is rosy orange. The forewing is broad and slightly produced with a slightly convex outer margin. Ground colour is orangey-brown with darker brown median and subterminal areas. There are some rosy scales in the basal area of the forewing and there is a heavy suffusion of rosy scales in the hindwing basal and median areas.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This species has multiple broods in Colombia. Luigi Racheli reports them on the wing in May, July and October in Ecuador.

Dan Janzen reports them on Croton schiedeanus in Costa Rica.

Hyles aeneides female, Peru,
courtesy of Viktor Suter

Hylesia aeneides female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING: Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pick up and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae. David Wikle obtained eggs from this female from Nicaragua. Dorsally the thorax is brown, the abdomen is rust coloured with the tip yellow.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE: Eggs are probably deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage. Hylesia aeneides larvae are probably highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae. Prepenultimate instar, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Hyles aeneides seventh instars, Peru,
courtesy of Viktor Suter

Hyles aeneides seventh instars, Peru,
courtesy of Viktor Suter

Hyles aeneides seventh instars, Peru,
courtesy of Viktor Suter

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.

Croton schiedeanus .......

Croton schiedeanus

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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.

I do not know the origin of the genus name Hylesia.

The species name aeneides is the name for the peoples of Cyzicus, a town founded by Cyzicus, the son of Aeneus.