DISTRIBUTION:

Paradaemonia meridionalis (wingspan: males: mm; females: mm // forewing length: males: 65.2-70.0mm; females: 74-79mm) flies in
Brazil: Federal District: Planaltina; Espírito Santo: Cachoeira de Santa Teresa; Rio de Janeiro: Petrópolis, Campos do Jordão; Sao Paulo; Paraná: Piraquara, Tijucas do Sul, Campo Largo, Ponta Grossa, Guarapuava, Foz do Iguaçu; Santa Catarina: São Bento do Sul; Rio Grande do Sul: Cambará do Sul.

This moth is closely related to the Paradaemonia castanea (Rothschild, 1907) of Costa Rica and Peru, and P. platydesmia (Rothschild, 1907) of Amazonas region of South America group.

Paradaemonia meridionalis, male (verso), Brazil.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are probably at least two generations annually with moths on the wing in January-February and September-October-November-December. I have no actual data or foodplant information.

Paradaemonia meridionalis, female, Brazil.

Paradaemonia meridionalis, female (verso), Brazil.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Pupae are probably formed in a porous, dark brown cocoon.

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.

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 "meridionalis" is indicative of location arond the Meridion.

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