DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia cottica (wingspan: males: 34-40mm; females: 42-60mm) flies in
Suriname: Marowijne;
French Guiana: Camopi, Kaw, Cayenne, Regina, Cacoa, Coralie, Sinnamary, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Saul, Placer Tibourou;
Venezuela: Bolivar, Amazonas; and
Ecuador: Sucumbios and Napo; at elevations from 100 m to 900m. It probably also flies in Guyana and areas of Brazil.

The thorax is dark brown. The abdomen is orange, sometimes faintly ringed with black. The forewing is elongate with an oblique outer margin and a slightly produced apex. The forewing tip is rounded. The wings are uniform brownish-grey with almost concolourous lines. The am line is straight and runs vertical in spread specimens. The outer lines parallel the outer margin. The forewing cell mark is darker than surroundings.

The hindwing is without marks and has darker hairs along the inner margin.

The ventral side is uniform dull brown, devoid of markings.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in January, February, March, May, July, October and December, suggestin continuous brooding. Larval hosts are unknown.

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.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are probably deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hylesia cottica larvae are probably highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

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.

Return to Hylesia Index

Return to Main Saturniidae 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.

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

The species name cottica indicates the holtype location source along the Cottica River in Surinam.