DISTRIBUTION:

Periga elsa (wingspan: males: 55-70mm; females: larger) (forewing length: males 30-32mm; females probably larger) flies in
western Colombia: Valle del Cauca and probably Cauca and Nariono; and
western Ecuador: Pichincha and Bolivar and probably Esmeraldas, Carchi, Imbabura and Cotopaxi in habitats with elevations from 650m to 1400m.

P. elsa, a pale yellow species, may be limited to western Colombia. Possibly it is replaced in western Ecuador by the brighter, deeper yellow P. pachijalensis.

Ground colour is pale yellow with a sprinking of dark brown to black scales. The two dark cellular markings on the forewing each have a white center and are connected by a thin streak. The preapical pm line is dark brown, straight and slightly hooked toward the body near the costa. The faint am line has two rounded "humps", and together with the pm line, divides the inner margin of the forewing into thirds.

The underside is darker/duller than the dorsal surface with considerable brown scaling, and the submarginal band and subcostal spot are very contrasting on all wings.

This species belongs to the Periga cluacina Subgroup, which consists of the following species:

Periga cluacina Sorry, no image available at this time. Similar to P. costaricana. Barcoding might be required to differentiate between them; perhaps they will be synonymized, or costaricana will replace cluacina in CR. Elsa: once treated as cluacina subspecies. Panama, Costa Rica? Periga costaricana Cosat Rica Periga elsa W Colombia; W Ecuador Periga herbini Eastern Ecuador Lemaire indicates herbini and extensiva may require examination of genitalia to distinguish beteen them. Herbini possibly flies at lower elevation (800-1300m) than does extensiva (1350m) Periga extensiva Eastern Ecuador Periga armata Colombia: Cundinamarca Periga inexpectata Co: Putamayo; Ec: Sucumbios probably not inexpectata Periga occidentalis Colombia; Ecuador; Peru?? Periga kindli French Guiana Periga squamosa Peru; Bolivia Periga pachijalensis

Members of the Periga cluacina Subgroup generally have each forewing with two small but distinct white cell spots, completely outlined in black or very dark brown, with the spots connected at least partially by a thin, dark, convex arc with a small dark spot near its center. In the yellowish and grey brown species (kindli and squamosa), the forewing antemedian line is strongly indented at the cubitus. This last feature is not present in the orangey species: armata, inexpectata and occidentalis.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in December-January-February. Horst Kach reports a specimen taken in April in Ecuador, but those are more likely Periga pachijalensis.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are probably deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Periga elsa larvae are probably highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

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.

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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 "Periga" chosen by Walker in 1855.

The species name of elsa, indicates the location (Elsa, Valle, Columbia) of the male holotype.

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