DISTRIBUTION:

Rhodirphia carminata (wingspan: males: 87-100mm; females: forewing length: males: 45-50mm; females: probably larger) flies in southwestern Colombia: Valle del Cauca and Nariono and probably Cauca; and
western Ecuador: Esmeraldas, Pichincha and Canar and (probably Carchi (WO??)),
at elevations of 650m to 1620m.

Rhodirphia carminata male, Los Bancos, westside; Pichincha Province,
November-December-January, courtesy of Horst Kach

Rhodirphia carminata male (verso), Los Bancos, westside; Pichincha Province,
November-December-January, courtesy of Horst Kach

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larval hosts are unknown.

This species probably broods continuously on a three-four month cycle.

Colombia: March-April, August-October.
Ecuador: December-January-February, August.

Rhodirphia carminata male, Alluriquin, Pichincha Province,
930 m, January 20, 2003, courtesy of Hubert Mayer.

Rhodirphia carminata male, 94mm, Los Bancos, Pichincha, Ecuador,
December 2005, courtesy of Bill Garthe.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pick up and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae.

Rhodirphia carminata male, Costa, Pichincha, western Ecuador,
1090m, January 5, 2005, courtesy of Andreas Riekert.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are probably deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Rhodirphia carminata larvae are probably highly gregarious and probably 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 "Rhodirphia" chosen by Michener in 1949. PERHAPS?? the hindwing cell spot intersecting the median band suggested the Greek letter Rho.

The species name "carminata" was probably chosen for the deep carmine ground colour of the forewing.

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