Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina
Updated as per Lemaire's Ceratocampinae 1988, October 3, 2006
Updated as per personal communication with Ryan Saint Laurent The Smithsonian Insect Collection (USNM); December 27, 2013

Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina
til-oh-SKOH-luhMlye-las-SEE-nah
(Schaus, 1900) (Othorene)

Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina male, 56mm, Boyaca, Colombia,
courtesy of Entomo-Satsphingia.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Ceratocampinae Harris, 1841
was Citheroniinae Neumoegen & Dyar, 1894
Genus: Ptiloscola, Michener, 1949
Speces: lilacina lilacina, Schaus, 1900

DISTRIBUTION:

The Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina moth (wingspan: males: 54-59mm; females: 67mm) flies in
Colombia: Boyaca, Cundimarca and Antioquia, and probably in Caldas and Santander.

Body is primarily yellow with contrasting purple tarsi. The male forewing is elongated with a convex outer margin.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina flies in ?

Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina female, 67mm, Boyaca, Colombia,
courtesy of Entomo-Satsphingia.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Adult Ptiloscola lilacina lilacina moths emerge from subterranean pupae, and males are slightly smaller than females.

Mating probably begins shortly after dusk with a calling period from 10:30 pm. to 1:00 am.

A light rainfall or mist seems to stimulate additional flight or eclosions resulting in more moths on the wing, or at least taken at lights, but overall this species is infrequent at lights and very erratic in flight when approaching.

Ptiloscola lilacina male, All Leps Barcode of Life.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Night-flying females lay translucent eggs on host plant leaves.

Larvae are well adorned with scoli and pupate underground in small chambers or among surface litter.

Care of larvae and pupae should be as for any Neotropical species.

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.

Return to Main Saturniidae Index

Return to Ptiloscola Index

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.

The genus name "Ptiloscola" comes from, 'Ptilo, meaning wing and 'scola', probably meaning twisted or crooked, perhaps refering to the irregular shape of the pm line.

The species name "lilacina" probably refers to the purple tarsi (lower leg regions).

Ptiloscola lilacina male, Claude Lemaire, on my home computer only.