DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia index (wingspan: males: 40-47mm; females: 53-55-58mm) flies in
eastern Peru: Loreto, Huanuco, Junin, Madre de Dios, Cusco, Puno;
Ecuador: Napo, Morona-Santiago and probably Pastaza;
Venezuela: Yaracuy; and
Bolivia: Cochabamba; La Paz (ESs) at elevations from 200m to 900m.

The thorax is dark brown; the abdomen is black. The broad forewing is not apically produced in the male (slightly produced and pointed in female). The outer margin is straight to slightly convex. The ground colour is dull smokey-grey with a purplish suffusion. Lines are dark with am tangent to the discal mark and angled at the cubitus; pm turning inward near the costa, not reaching the dark brown apical region. The cell mark is dark and may or may not be prominent. In the male, the upper region of the median area, even onto the costa, tends to be lighter in colour than rest of the wing.

Hylesia index??? male (verso), Atalaya, Madre de Dios, Peru,
42mm, November, 2007, 1600ft., courtesy of Anna & Frank West.

At the time of Lemaire' publication of Hemileucinae, 2002, there were five species/subspecies included in the SUBGROUP of Hylesia praeda:
Hylesia rufipes LT; Limon, Costa Rica; Nicaragua;
Hylesia praeda HT: near Loja, Ecuador; Panama; French Guiana; Guyana; Venezuela; Colombia; Peru and Brazil;
Hylesia praeda nigra HT: La Paz, Bolivia;
Hylesia index LT: Carabaya, Puno, Peru; Venezuela; eastern Ecuador: Madre de Dios; eastern Peru; Bolivia: Cochabamba; La Paz (ESs);
Hylesia haxairei HT: Bolivar, Venezuela; French Guiana; Brazil: Para.

As of 2016, Brechlin and Meister have expanded the group to 15 species. H. praeda nigra has been elevated to full species status as Hylesia nigra HT La Paz; Bolivia. Hylesia rubriprocta, HT eastern Colombia: Meta; probably Antioquia and Santander; formerly synonymized with praeda, is given full species status.

H. frederici HT Roura, Kaw, French Guiana and H. vassali HT Piste de Nancibo, French Guiana, formerly in a group of their own, are now in the Hylesia praeda subgroup.

Hylesia rufex LT Brazil: Minas Gerais; Rio de Janeiro; Santa Catarina; and Paraguay: Itapua and Guaira. has also been added to the subgroup.

Six new species have been added to the group based on DNA barcoding analysis:

H. praednapoana HT: Ecuador: Napo: Rio Hollin;
H. praedpichinchensis HT: Ecuador: Pichincha: Los Bancos;
H. praedjunensis HT Peru: Junin: San Ramon;
H. praedperuana HT Peru: Huanuco: Panguana; Cusco: Mandor and Asunsion; Madre de Dios: Puerto Maldonado and Malinosque and Salvasion;
H. praedguiana HT French Guiana: Cayenne: Kaw Mountain area;
H. inducayalex HT Peru: Ucayali; Puerto Bermudes.

Visit Hylesia praeda Group: Comparison Table.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in February-March, June-July and November-December. If my identification of the moth below is correct, there is also a mid June flight in Shima, Junin, Peru.

Hylesia index female, Shima, Junin, Peru,
mid June, 2010, 700m, courtesy of Peter Bruce-Jones,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Hylesia index female, Shima, Junin, Peru,
mid June, 2010, 700m, courtesy of Peter Bruce-Jones,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Hylesia index female, 53mm, Morona Santiago, Ecuador,
on my home computer only.

Larval hosts are unknown.

This species probably broods continuously on a three month cycle.

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 index 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 do not know the reason for the species name, 'index'.