Hylesia pallidex
Updated as per Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, October 3, 2006
Updated as per French Guiana Systematique, February 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Shirley Sekarajasingham (Amazonia Lodge, nr Atalaya, Madre de Dios, Peru, May 17, 2012); October 3, 2012

Hylesia pallidex
Dognin, 1923

Hylesia pallidex male, Amazonia Lodge, nr Atalaya, Madre de Dios, Peru,
May 17, 2012, courtesy of Shirley Sekarajasingham, id by Bill Oehlke.

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 pallidex (wingspan: males: 32-42mm; females: 40-44mm) flies in
Uruguay: Puoillon;
French Guiana: Camopi, Kaw, Cayenne, Regina, Coralie, Belizon, probably Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni;
Suriname: Marowijne;
Venezuela: Bolivar;
Ecuador: Morona-Santiago;
Peru: Loreto, Junin, Madre de Dios (SS), Puno; and
Brazil: Para; Amazonas, probably Amapa.

This species has been taken at elevations from 100m to 980m, with encounters more often at lower elevations.

Hylesia pallidex male, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

The thorax is brown to dark brown. The abdomen is yellow to brown with yellowish hairs.

The dull olive-grey, elongated forewing has a rounded apex that is slightly produced. The lower half of the outer margin is convex. The concave to straight pm line is thin and slightly darker than surroundings. The am line is weak or even non-existent. The cell marking is also faint, as are the subterminal markings.

Hylesia pallidex male, Satipo, Junin, Peru,
courtesy of Philippe Brems, tentative id by Bill Oehlke

Hylesia pallidex male, Amazonia Lodge, nr Atalaya, Madre de Dios, Peru,
May 17, 2012, courtesy of Shirley Sekarajasingham, id by Bill Oehlke.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larval hosts are unknown.

This species probably broods continuously on a three month cycle. Shirley Sekarajasingham reports a May flight near Atalaya, Peru.

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.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hylesia pallidex 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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Hylesia pallidex female, Belizon, French Guiana,
February 1982, collection of Philippe Collet, photo copyright Rene Lahousse,
French Guiana Systematique.

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