Automerina cypria
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Updated as per "An update checklist for the Saturniidae of Ecuador. Part II: .... " in
SHILAP Revta. lepid 34 (135), 2006: 197-211 L. & T. Racheli, September 2007
Updated as per personal communication with Nigel Venters (San Salvadore de Jujuy, Argentina, November 17, 2009); December 3, 2010
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Automerina cypria
(Gmelin, 1790)
(Phalaena)
Automerina cypria pair from Beni, Bolivia, T. Decaƫns
& G. Lecourt.
| TAXONOMY:
Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Automerina, Michener, 1949
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MIDI MUSIC
"What.A.Wonderful.World"
copyright C. Odenkirk
MIDI CITY
ON.OFF
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DISTRIBUTION:
Automerina cypria
(forewing length: males: 20-23mm; females: 28-35mm; wingspan: males: 39-47mm; females: 56-73mm) flies in
eastern
Ecuador:
Sucumbios: Lumbaqui, Lago Agrio,
Napo: Cosanga, Misahualli, Satzayacu,
Pastaza: Macas, and
Morona Santiago: Rio Pumayacu;
and throughout the tropical rain forests in the Amazon region:
French Guiana: Cayenne,
Roura, Kourou, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, Saul;
Surinam,
Guyana: Kartabo;
Venzuela: Territorio Delta Amacuro,
Bolivar;
Peru: Loreto, Huanuco, Cusco, Madre de Dios;
Bolivia: Beni, La Paz, Chuquisaca;
Brazil: Para, Amazonas, (probably Roraima (WO?));
Brazil: Para: Pacaja: Pacaja-BPC308, -4.805, -49.369, collected by T. Decaens, 2008-06-01 (Mirror);
and Argentina: Tucuman and Salta and
probably Jujuy.
Automerina cypria male, Ecuador, courtesy
of Leroy Simon.
So far it has been recorded at elevations from 150 to 1800m.
The male's forewing has a slightly produced apex with a diffuse black subapical patch and black fringe on the upper two-thirds of a slightly convex outer margin.
There are often numerous small back dots along the veins. Ground colour ranges from light grey to orangey-beige. The am line is dark and quite irregular while the
broadly preapical, dark grey pm line is weak, especially near apex and is outwardly traced with paler scaling.
A diffuse, broad, darker band runs from the costa to the inner margin just outside the lighter, oval shaped discal mark.
The hindwing eyespot has a small white dot in the upper portion of an orange iris, ringed in black.
FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:
This species
seems to brood continuously. Nigel venters confirms a November flight in Jujuy, Argentina. A June flight is confirmed in Brazil.
Larvae feed on Theobroma cacao.
ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:
Females call in the
night-flying males via an airbourne pheromone released from a gland
at the tip of the abdomen.
EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:
Larvae have urticating
spines and are gregarious in their habits. Scoli are probably arranged
as short, dense rosettes.
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.
Theobroma cacao.......
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Cocao
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