DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia metapyrrha (wingspan: males: 41-62mm; females: 62-72mm) flies in
Brazil: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Parana and Santa Catarina and in adjacent areas in
Paraguay. It has been taken at elevations of 400m to 1300m.

Hylesia metapyrrha male, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
April 18, 2016, courtesy of Raul Sousa.

The abdominal hairs, especially of the female can cause allergic reactions in humans, resulting in severe dermatitis.

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

Colouration is quite variable. The male forewing is broad and is slightly apically produced. The am and pm lines are thin and weak. The forewing discal oval is variable in size, most often greenish (with or without a dark center), but sometimes black.

The female has contrasting markings and the broad oval discal spot is dark.

Hylesia metapyrrha male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
January 29, 2015, courtesy of Enio Branco.

Hylesia corevia, Schaus, 1900, was at one time synonymized with H. metapyrrha but I believe it has been resurrected?? as a valid species.

Hylesia corevia male, Lectotype,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1949, probably January, NMNH

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in January, February, March, April and October. Larval hosts are unknown. They have been reared in the lab on guava (Psidium guayava).

Hylesia metapyrrha male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
January 29, 2015, courtesy of Enio Branco.

Hylesia metapyrrha male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
January 29, 2015, courtesy of Enio Branco.

Hylesia metapyrrha male, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
February 17, 2013, courtesy of Enio Branco.

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.

SPECHT, A.; FORMENTINI, AC. and CORSEUIL, E..
Biological aspects of Hylesia metapyrrha (Lepidoptera; Saturniidae; Hemileucinae),
in laboratory. Braz. J. Biol. 2007, vol.67, n.1 [cited 2015-11-24], pp. 173-177.
Available from: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842007000100024&lng=en&nrm=iso
ISSN 1678-4375. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842007000100024.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in large clusters on hostplant stems. The egg mass is intertwined and covered with urticating hairs from the female abdomen. These same hairs can cause severe dermatitis in humans and probably protect the eggs from predators. Incubation can last as long as 52 days.

Hylesia metapyrrha larvae probably are highly gregarious and have the urticating hairs/spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae. All instars are similar in appearancde to the final instar.

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.

Psidium guayava ........

Guava

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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 "metapyrrha", but, in Greek mythology, Pyrrha is the daughter of Epimetheus and the wife of Deucalion.