Arsenura armida
Ar-sen-OOR-uh Mar-MEE-duh
(Cramer, 1779) Phalaena Attacus

Arsenura armida courtesy of Leroy Simon

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

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Arsenurinae, Jordan, 1922 Tribe: Arsenurini, Jordan, 1922 Genus: Arsenura Duncan, 1841

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DISTRIBUTION:

Arsenura armida (wingspan: 108mm-136mm) flies from southeastern Mexico: Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Chiapas and Quintana Roo; south through
Belize: Orange Walk, Cayo, Toledo;
Guatemala: Ixpanpajul, Peten; (probably everywhere) (Izabal (JM));
probably everywhere in
Honduras: Atlantida, Cortes, Francisco Morazan, Olancho, Yoro, Copan (AA);
El Salvador: San Salvador, Ahuachapan, (probably everywhere);
Nicaragua: Esteli, Jinotega, Matagalpa, Managua, Masaya, Granada, Zelaya, Rio San Juan, (probably everywhere);
Costa Rica: Puntarenas, Cartago (CL), Alajuela, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, San Jose (IB);
Panama: Chiriqui, (probably everywhere);
Venezuela: Tachira, Barinas, Zulia, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, District Federal, Miranda, Sucre, Territorio Delta Amacuro, Bolivar, Amazonas (probably everywhere);
eastern Colombia: Antioquia, Tolima, Santander, Cundinamarca, Meta, Caqueta, Putamayo;
eastern Ecuador: Napo (common (LTR)), Tungurahua, Pastaza, Morona-Santiago, Zamora Chinchipe and Sucumbios (LTR) and Orellana (LTR);
Peru: Loreta, Amazonas, San Martin, Huanuco, Pasco, Junin, Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Puno, and probably Ucayalai (eastern slopes);
Guyana (probably everywhere);
Suriname: Paramaribo (probably everywhere);
French Guiana: Inini (near Kaw) (probably everywhere), Coralie, Belizon, Regina;
Brazil: Amapa, Para, Amazonas, District Federal, Goias, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Parana;
Bolivia: Santa Cruz; Cochabamba; and
Paraguay (UD): Canindeyu, Caaguaza, Alto Parana, Guaira, Caazapa, Itapua (PS), Amambay: La Nina (SR).

The specimen type for Arsenura armida is Suriname. Very similar species have recently been described from other areas: Arsenura arianae from Central America; Arsenura fuscata from Peru and Boliva. I do not know if there are species overlaps or if the new determinations replace A. armida in the designated locations.

Visit Arsenura armida, Cortes, Honduras, courtesy/copyright Eduardo Marabuto.

Visit Arsenura armida 108mm; Cerro Azul-Meambar National Park, Dept. of Cortés, Honduras; 800m; May-06; courtesy of Juan Ramon Collart.

Arsenura armida Paraguay, courtesy/copyright Ulf Drechsel.

Arsenura armida, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen,
composited by Bill Oehlke.

This is the same moth as A. cassandra.

This species is quite variable. I believe the specimen below, from Cusco, Peru, is nominate armida.

With the elevation of Arsenura armida archianassa to full species status, there is no need for a designation of A. armida armida.

Arsenura armida male, Cochabamba, Bolivia,
wingspan 118mm, courtesy of Kelly Price. copyright, id by Carlos Mielke

HABITAT:

This species flies in varied habitats, but probably not at elevations over 1500m.

Arsenura armida male, French Guiana,
March 31, 2011, courtesy of Andres Urbas.

Arsenura armida male, French Guiana,
March 31, 2011, courtesy of Andres Urbas.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are probably two generations of Arsenura armida annually with moths on the wing in January-February and then again in May-June-July. FGS reports a flight in November-December. Juan Ramon Collart reports a May flight in Cortes, Honduras.

Kirby Wolfe reports a peak flight at the beginning of the rainy season. In drier areas there may be only a single brood.

Larvae of armida eat Annona, Bombacopsis quinatum, Bombax ceiba, Ceiba pentandra. Chorisia insignis and Chorisia speciosa.

In Europe, Bernhard Wenczel reports Tilia cordata and Prunus padus are used with some success. They have also reared on Tilia (Kirby Wolfe) in the lab.

Arsenura armida moth (female) courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Arsenura armida female, Volcan, Chiriqui, Panama,
November 14, 2006, courtesy of Rich Young, id by Bill Oehlke.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night. The lower wings of the female (above) are much more rounded than those of the male (below).

Arsenura armida moth (male) courtesy of Carlot Didier.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Large clusters of eggs are deposited on foliage or stems or twigs, resulting in large numbers of larvae hatching almost simultaneously.

Larvae are very gregarious in the early instars and line up like boxcars on the undersides of foliage. Thoracic spines and posterior horn are suggestive of Ceratocampinae.

Mature larvae descend tree trunks to pupate underground and often seem to move to trunks en masse to moult.

Arsenura armida, Venezuela, courtesy of Bernhard Jost.

Arsenura armida copyright protected, Kirby Wolfe.

Visit Arsenura armida larvae Copan, Honduras, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Anker.

Visit Arsenura armida female, Ixpanpajul, Peten, Guatemala, courtesy of Jose Monzon.

Visit Arsenura armida male, Itabo Itaipu Reserve, Alto Parana, Paraguay, courtesy of Paul Smith.

Visit Arsenura armida male 114mm and female 127mm, Punta Gorda, Toledo, Belize, courtesy of Norm Smith.

Visit Arsenura armida male, female, eggs and larvae, Guatemala, courtesy of Leroy Simon.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or other sources. 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.

Annona Bombacopsis quinatum...... Bombax ceiba Ceiba pentandra Chorisia insignis Chorisia speciosa Guazuma ulmifolia Prunus padus Rollinia membranacea Tilia cordata

Custard apple Bombacopsis Red silk-cotton tree Kapok tree. Floss-silk tree Floss-silk tree Guacima/Bay cedar European Bird Cherry Rollinia membranacea Littleleaf Linden

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 "Arsenura" chosen by Duncan in 1841.

The species name "armida" may be for Armida, a beautiful sorceress and seductress in Torquato Tasso's epic "Gerusalemme liberata".

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Goto additional images of Arsenura armida courtesy of Hubert Mayer.

Arsenura armida at rest, courtesy of Entomo Service