Automeris boucardi
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Updated from Lemaire's Hemileucinae, 2002, October 13, 2005;
January 12, 2007
Updated as per communication from Jean Michel Maes (Nicaragua), March 2007
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Automeris boucardi
awe-too-MER-ihsmmBOO-card-eye
Druce, 1886
Automeris boucardi male, Kiri Lodge, Orosi, Cartago, Costa Rica,
4000 feet, May 6, 2008, courtesy/copyright Leroy Simon.
TAXONOMY:
Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Automeris, Hubner, [1819] |
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DISTRIBUTION:
The Automeris boucardi moth
(wingspan: males: 57-63mm; females: 85-91mm) flies in
Costa Rica: Cartago, San Jose;
and
Guatemala:
Huehuetenango as a montane species.
Jean Michel Maes reports it from
Nicaragua: Matagalpa.
The accented venation of the
baso-median area of
the forewings and of the median area of the hindwings
helps to identify this species.
Automeris boucardi female, Kiri Lodge, Orosi, Cartago, Costa Rica,
4000 feet, May 6, 2008, courtesy/copyright Leroy Simon.
FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:
Larvae probably
would accept Fagus and Salix.
Specimens have been
taken in February (April in Nicaragua), (May in Cartago, Costa Rica) and July.
ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:
Males use their more
highly developed antennae to seek out females who release an
airbourne pheromone into the night sky.
EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:
Eggs are deposited in
clusters of 6-40+ on hostplant twigs. Larvae have urticating spines
and are gregarious, especially in the early instars.
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.
Fagus
Laburnum.......
Salix
| Beech
Bean tree
Willow
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