DISTRIBUTION:

Periga caraca (wingspan: males: 48mm; females: // forewing length: males: 27mm; females: mm) flies in
Brazil: Minas Gerais: Caraca; at elevations of 1300m.

This species belongs to the Periga circumstans group and this species is quite similar to Periga circumstans, but differs from circumstans and from acuta, alticola and pulchra by the combination of the following characters: more convex outer margin and prominent whitish discal spots of the forewings.

Males have a yellowish-brown ground colour, with a generous sprinkling of dark dark gray dots, and the forewing outer margin is convex. The apex is not acute and is only slightly produced. The white discal spots (two larger ones and a smaller one, all outlined in grey) are prominent, and the forewing pm line is apical and straight. There are no contrasting spots in the pm area.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in October. There are possibly other flight months. 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 caraca larvae are 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 "caraca" is indicative of a specimen type from Caraca, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

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