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Updated as per Witt Museum Type Specimens, January 2012 Updated as per Entomo Satsphingia Jahrgang 4 Heft 4 21.10.2011; March 31, 2012 Updated as per personal communication with Vladimir Izersky (Rio Venado, Junin, Peru, January 3, 2009, 1050m), February 12, 2009; March 31, 2012 |
Molippa intermediata male, Peru,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
TAXONOMY:Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 |
"Someone to Watch |
Based on DNA barcoding analysis, Brechlin and Meister, 2011, have described this species as very similar in size and patterning to M. latemedia, which I believe flies in Colombia and eastern Ecuador, and M. boliviana which flies in Bolivia and had previously been synonymized with M. latemedia.
M. intermediata is a darker grey-brown colour with a very large, dark cell mark, a dark, solid, lower half of the basal area, and an overall very contrasting appearance.
Visit Peru: Molippa Chart.
Molippa intermediata male, Peru,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
Molippa intermediata male, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
Visit Molippa intermediata, Shima (near Satipo), Junin, Peru, 700m, courtesy of Peter Bruce-Jones.
Kirby Wolfe reports rearing success with Acacia baileyana.
Molippa latemedia female, Peru,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck. ,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
Molippa intermediata female by Viktor Suter,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
Sixth instar larva, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
Final instar larva, courtesy of Viktor Suter,
id revised from latemedia to M. intermediata by Bill Oehlke.
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 or reason for the genus name "Molippa" chosen by Walker in 1855.
The species name "intermediata" might be indicative of a range location, intermediate between two other (latemedia and boliviana) species, or a physical characteristic, intermediate between two other species? I think the former.
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