Hylesia falcifera
hye-LEES-ee-uhmfal-sih-FER-uh
Hubner, [1825] (Bombyx)

Hylesia falcifera (male), Brazil, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

?? Hylesia remex or Hylesia falcifera female or other Hylesia species,
Paraguay, courtesy of Ulf Drechsel.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866 Tribe: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866 Genus: Hylesia, Hubner, [1820]

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DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia falcifera (wingspan: males: 32-35mm; females: 47mm) flies in
southeastern Brazil: Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Parana and in
Paraguay: Guaira, and (probably ?? Alto Parana, Caazapa and Itapua); and
Bolivia: Chuquisaca.

Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos sent me a paper in August 2015 which includes Hylesia falcifera in northeastern Argentina.

It is usually taken in locales with elevations ranging from 400-1400m.

The antennae are rusty yellow. The thorax is grey to dark brown, while the abdomen is greyish-yellow to black. The forewing is falcate with a greyish to brown ground colour. The wing is strongly concave below the apex, and then becomes slightly convex as it approaches the anal angle.

The am line is faint; the broadly preapical pm line is thin and dark and slightly "S-shaped" on the left forewing.

Hylesia falcifera male, All Leps Barcode of Life.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larval hosts are unknown.

This species probably broods continuously on a three month cycle. Specimens have been taken from January to April, in June and in November.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pickup and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae.

Hylesia falcifera female,
on my home computer only.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hylesia falcifera larvae are 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.

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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.

I suspect the species name is for the falcate shape of the forewing.