DISTRIBUTION:

Lonomia rufescens (wingspan: males: 68-85mm; females: 97-111mm), flies in
Colombia: Valle, Boyaca, probably Antioquia and Choco;
Ecuador: Esmeraldas (ESs);
Costa Rica: Heredia, Cartago, Puntarenas (CL), Alajuela, San Jose (IB); and
probably in Panama: probably entire east coast.

Specimens have been taken from habitats with elevations of 55m in Costa Rica to 1000m in Colombia. Jean Michel Maes confirms it in southern Nicaragua: Rio San Juan.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in January-February, April-May, July, September and December, indicating at least four continuous broods annually.

The larval host plant is Parathesis 12974.

Lonomia rufescens? (possibly L. santarosensis) female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Lonomia rufescens female, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
on my home computer only.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the abdomen to call in night-flying males.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE: Typical of the Subfamily Hemileucinae, eggs are laid in clusters and larvae are gregarious and have urticating spines. Dan Janzen image of larva.

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. Additional foodplants have been included from other sources.

Parathesis 12974

Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.

Return to Lonomia Genus

Goto Mexico and Central American Saturniidae Index

Goto South American Saturniidae Index

Goto Main Index

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 "rufescens" is probably for the reddish (rufous) ground colour of the male.

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