DISTRIBUTION:

Periphoba augur (wingspan: males: 80-103mm; females: 120-137mm) flies in
French Guiana: Roura, Kaw, Cayenne, Regina, Nancibo, Coralie, Montsinery, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni;
Suriname: Brokopondo District: Brownsberg National Park (JvB);
probably Guyana;
Venezuela: Bolivar;
Peru: Cusco; and in
Brazil: Mato Grosso, (probably Para and Amazonas (WO?)).

Periphoba augur male, Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Erin Brandt, tentative id by Bill Oehlke, confirmed by Carlos Mielke.

Dr. Mielke indicates there is considerable variation amongst specimens in the shape of the am and pm lines.

The abdomen is yellow, ringed with black, with a yellow tuft. Ground colour is usually greyish with suffusions of yellowish-brown. Lines are brown and subparallel. The am is straight runing somewhat obliquely inward. A small black discal spot is often accompanied by an accessory white dash.

Periphoba augur male, 82mm, French Guiana,
on my home computer only.

It has been taken in habitats with elevations between 100m and 1800m, and it is probably more widespread than indicated above.

Periphoba augur male, French Guiana, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in January-February, April-May-June, and October-November-December in French Guiana. Johan van't Bosch reports a July flight in Suriname.

Native larval hosts are unknown, but Steve Kohll has utilized hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).

Periphoba augur male, Brownsberg National Park, Brokopondo, Suriname,
July 8, 2011, courtesy of Johan van't Bosch.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pick up and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae.

Periphoba augur female, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, French Guiana,
January 19, 1980, on my home computer only.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Periphoba augur larvae are highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

The long pair of posterior "spikes" and the more extensive anterior"spinage" are typical of mature Periphoba larvae.

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.

Carpinus betulus (SK) .......

Hornbeam

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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 "Periphoba" chosen by Hubner in 1820.

The species name "augur" is possibly from ancient Roman history where an augur was a priest or official whose main role was interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds.

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

The following image(s) may or may not appear on your monitor, depending upon whether or not I get permission from respective photographers/owners to display them. I do have permission for my own private use.

Periphoba augur male, Kaw, French Guiana,
December 13, 1996, Rodolphe Rougerie, French Guiana Systematique.