DISTRIBUTION:

Periga parvibulbacea (wingspan: males: 50-63mm; females: 66mm); (forewing length; males: 27-35 mm; females: 39mm) flies in the South Andean region of
Ecuador: Napo, Pastaza, Tungurahua, Zamora Chinchipe and Morona-Santiago;
Peru: Cajamarca, Amazonas, Huanuco, Pasco, Junin, Cusco, Puno; and
Bolivia: La Paz, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca;
in low to medium elevation andean forests (650 - 1500 m).

Based on recent DNA barcoding analysis, Periga parvibulbacea may be limited to eastern Ecuador, being replaced by similar species in Peru and Bolivia.

Periga parvibulbacea male, 62mm, Pastaza, Ecuador,
on my home computer only.

Periga parvibulbacea male, Copalinga Lodge, Podocarpus N P, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador,
February 5, 2014, 1100m, courtesy of Brian Fletcher, id by Bill Oehlke.

The forewing apex is produced and the preapical pm line turns toward the apex near the costa.

Ground colour varies from dull yellow to dull rusty-brown. The male hindwing outer margin is slightly bent on Vein M3.

The following species belong to the Periga parvibulbacea Subgroup whose members have
1) a slightly produced, pointed apex;
2) an almost straight outer margin whose line is almost perpendicular to the line of the inner margin;
3) an antemedian line without a strong indentation at the cubitus;
4) two small white cell spots, encircles in black with a small black spot, usually on the center of a thin dark arc connecting the white spots.

I do not know if any of the very similar species in this group are sympatric or if one species replaces the other in the respective locations. There seem to be some slight differences in the images provided by Entomo-Satsphingia with regard to size, ground colour, course of the pm line, nearness of the pm line to the apex at intersection with costa, shape of the am line, and overall contrast between black specking, yellow markings and ground colour. I will comment on each of those aspects below the thumbnail images, most of which I do not have permission to post, so they will not appear in the chart below until I receive images from collections of members, or internet images from various photographers, members or not.

Periga parvibulbacea Periga parviboliviana Periga mariposana Periga suninensis Periga quillabambensis Periga marcapata Periga parvichuquisaciana Periga parvimartinensis Periga cutervensis convex forewing outer margin Periga parvicajamarcensis Periga Periga

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in all months except October-November. Natural larval hosts are unknown. Kirby Wolfe has reared them on Malosma (=Rhus) laurina.

Periga parvibulbacea female, copyright Kirby Wolfe

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 deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

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

Periga parvibulbacea, larva, copyright Kirby Wolfe

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.

Malosma (=Rhus) laurina.......

Laurel sumac

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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 "parvibulbacea" indicates the smaller (shorter) bulbus ejaculatoris in this species as compared to Periga occidentalis.

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