DISTRIBUTION:

The Lonomia frankae moth (forewing length: males: 38-43mm; females: 54mm) flies in
Peru: Pasco: Oxapampa: La Suiza (HT) and Junin and Puno and probably Cusco. The moth has been taken at elevations of 1800-2300m;
Peru: Pasco: Oxapampa, La Suiza, collected by Hubert Maye, 2004-06-20;
Peru: Pasco: near Oxapampa: La Suiza, collected by B. Wenczel, 2002-06-10.

Lonomia frankae HT male, La Suiza, Oxapampa, Pasco, Peru,
July 24, 2001, 2180m, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Hubert Meyer, Bernhard Wenczel and Jose Boettger have taken specimens in May, June and July. The peak flight of this univoltine species is June.

Bernhard Wenczel reared larvae in the lab on Fagus sylvatica (European beech) to the final instar, but larvae did not pupate.

Lonomia frankae HT male (verso), La Suiza, Oxapampa, Pasco, Peru,
July 24, 2001, 2180m, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females emit a scent into the night sky. Males fly into the wind and track the pheromone plume with their antennae.

Lonomia frankae female, Peru, courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Typical of the Subfamily Hemileucinae, Lonomia species all have urticating spines.

Larvae are gregarious. Pupation seems to be without a cocoon. Larval images below are courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

Listed below are the primary food plant(s) from personal communication (Bernhard Wenczel). 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.

Fagus sylvatica ........

European beech (Bernhard Wenczel)

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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.

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

I do not know the source of the genus name "Lonomia" chosen by Walker in 1855.

The species name "frankae" is honourific for Franka, the wife of Frank Meister. Frank did the examination of genitalia for this recently described species.

This page is designed and maintained by Bill Oehlke as part of the World's Largest Saturniidae Site.

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