DISTRIBUTION:

Hylesia rufex (wingspan: males: 36-48mm; females: 60-65mm) flies in
southern Brazil: Minas Gerais; Rio de Janeiro; Parana (CM); Santa Catarina; and in
Paraguay: Guaira Paraguari,and probably ?? Paraguari, Cordillera, Caaguazu, Caazapa, Alto Parana and Paraguari.

I suspect it also flies in
northeastern Argentina: Misiones Province.

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

Antennae: rusty yellow; thorax: orangey-brown with long mouse coloured hairs; abdomen: dull orange.

The male forewing is broad with a sharp point at the apex, which is not produced. Ground colour is orangey-brown with darker brown areas near the apex and in the basal area.

The sinuous, black am line is distinct. The black slightly preapical pm line is concave and runs to approximately 1/3 of the inner margin. The forewing outer margin is quite convex, and the discal mark is concolourous, large, outlined in brown with a thinblack streak.

The hindwing is orangey-brown.

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.

Hylesia rufex male, on my home computer only.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larvae feed on ??

This species probably broods continuously on a three month cycle.

Specimens are recorded for April-June and November.

Hylesia rufex female, on my home computer only.

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 rufex 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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