DISTRIBUTION:

Paradaemonia berlai (wingspan: males: 115-117mm; females; unknown) flies in northern coastal Brazil: Paraiba: Joao Pessoa, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and possibly as far south as Minas Gerais?

Forewings tend to be more elongate in berlai and the discal spot is fainter while the "purplish postmedian line of the hindwing is broader and more rectangular" as compared to mayi.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Paradaemonia berlai males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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.

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 "Paradaemonia" chosen by Bouvier in 1925. It could be because these moths are so similar to "Dysdaemonia", a combination meaning 'bad spirit'.

The species name "berlai" is honourific for Berla.

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