Arsenura albopicta
Ar-sen-OOR-uhmmal-boh-PIHK-tuh
Jordan, 1922

Arsenura albopicta male, Ecuador, courtesy/copyright Leroy Simon.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

DISTRIBUTION:

The Arsenura albopicta moth (wingspan: males: 110-132mm; females: 145-174mm) flies in damp tropical and equatorial woods at elevations between 290m and 900m. Records exist for
Venezuela: Barinas and Bolivar, and possibly Apure and Amazonas;
French Guiana: Inini and Saul, St. Georges;
Brazil: Amazonas;
Colombia: El Putumayo, and possibly Caqueta, Amazonas and Vaupes;
eastern Ecuador: Sucumbios LTR, Napo CL (common (LR)), Orellana LTR, Pastaza LTR, Morona Santiago CL, Tungurahua LTR; and in
Peru: Amazonas (LTR), Junin, Huanuco, Madre de Dios, and probably San Martin, Pasco, Cuzco and Ucayali.

I suspect it also flies in southern Suriname and southern Guyana, but there are no confirmed records.

Locations followed by my intitials (WO) indicate a speculative range, without confirmed reports.

Arsenura albopicta, Huanuco, Peru,
courtesy of Juan Chavez.

This species is named for the distinguishing white spots near the anal angle of all wings. The ground colour is a fairly uniform, dull, dark brown. The forewing pm line/band is either straight or only slightly bent outward near the inner margin. The third lobe of the pm line exists as only a slight extension of the black outer border in cell M2.

Arsenura albopicta male, Cacaulāndia, RO, Brazil, courtesy of Carlos G. C. Mielke. copyright

Arsenura albopicta male, Iquitos, Peru, courtesy of Carlos G. C. Mielke. copyright

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are probably two generations of the Arsenura albopicta moth annually; I expect peak flights would be in May and October-November-December. FGS reports a flight in February.

Arsenura albopicta male, Coviriali, Junin, Peru,
December 8, 2007, 662m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Arsenura albopicta male, Atalaya, Ucayali, Peru,
October 31, 2008, 350m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Arsenura albopicta female, Coviriali, Junin, Peru,
December 12, 2007, 662m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Arsenura albopicta female, Ecuador, courtesy/copyright Leroy Simon.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Arsenura albopicta males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

Arsenura armida (might be albopicta), Cusco Province, Peru, courtesy of Faviola Montes,
likely A. albopicta. Frederic Beneluz.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Mature larvae descend tree trunks to en masse pupate in subterranean chambers.

Mature larvae descending tree trunk to pupate,
January 2005, Misahualli, Napo Province, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Mature larvae descending tree trunk to pupate, courtesy of Horst Kach.

It would be interesting to know how many larvae are in this heard watched by Horst. My guess is over two-hundred. The large congregation may suggest a snake and may ward off predators.

Arsenura albopicta larvae, courtesy of Horst Kach.

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.

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 "Arsenura" chosen by Duncan in 1841.

The species name albopicta would be for the prominent white spots near the anal angle of each wing.

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