DISTRIBUTION:

Hirpida nigrolinea (forewing length: males: 24-34mm; females: 32mm) flies in
Peru: Puno; Madre de Dios
Ecuador: Napo;
and possibly Colombia and Bolivia: Cochabamba (1100-2000m).

Based on recent (2010-2011) DNA barcoding analysis results, I now believe those specimens from southeastern Bolivia are probably H. santacruziana, from Santa Cruz while those from southern Bolivia and possibly northern Argentina are probably H. chuquisaciana from Chuquisaca (and possibly Salta, Argentina), and those specimens from Jujuy, Argentina (and possibly Salta), are probably H. jujuylinea. I do not know if any of those species are sympatric, or, if not sympatric, where the ranges of the various species end. In appearance they are quite similar.

Specimens from Ecuador are also suspect, as many new designations have been put forward in 2010 by Brechlin and Meister.

Hirpida nigrolinea male, Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador,
April 2005, courtesy of Horst Kach, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

The specimen from Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach, is very similar to H. cuscolinea from Cusco, Peru, and also to H. olgae from Merida, Venezueala. I am going to place in on both of those pages as well.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are peak flights in January-March, April-May, September and December, suggesting at least three broods.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

Females are likely most active between 10:30 and 11:00 pm, males from 11:00 pm until 1:00 am.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hirpida nigrolinea 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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