DISTRIBUTION:

Paradaemonia gravis (wingspan: males: 104-112mm; females: 138-140mm) flies in damp tropical and equatorial woods in
French Guiana: Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Inini, Saul, Kaw.

Luigi Racheli reports it from
Peru.

Paradaemonia gravis male, Route de Kaw, French Guiana,
November 2001, on my home computer only.

The deeper brown ground colour with more dramatic purplish contrasts and coppery "splashes" in the terminal area of the forewing distinguish gravis from pluto.

Paradaemonia gravis male, French Guiana, courtesy of Andres Urbas.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in French Guiana in May and November.

Paradaemonia gravis female, Piste de Kaw, French Guiana,
May 23, 1993, courtesy of Frederic Beneluz,
on my home computer only.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae . 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 "gravis" is possibly for the "heavy"/dark colouration of this moth.

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