Automeris heppneri

Automeris heppneri
Lemaire, 1982

Automeris heppneri male, 68mm, Peru, BOLD Systems,
on my home computer only.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Automeris, Hubner, [1819]

MIDI MUSIC

"Someone to Watch Over Me"
copyright C. Odenkirk
ON.OFF
<bgsound src="watch.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Automeris heppneri (wingspan: males: 56-68mm; females: 78mm) flies in
Peru: Madre de Dios: Salvacion, and in
Ecuador: Napo: Misahualli.

Ground colour is yellowish-brown with muddy brown along the costa and around the cell which is marked by a white central dot. The apical, straight, oblique, thin, black pm line meets the inner margin close to the body. It is bordered on its upper side by a yellow strip and on its lower side by a brown strip. There is no evidence of an antemedian line or of a subterminal line.

The small hindwing eyespot has a pupil suffused in white. There is a single smooth black band.

Visit Automeris grammodes Group Comparison Plate to see thumbnails of available species from the Automeris grammodes Group, with notes to hopefully help determine species.

This species has been taken at elevations from 175m to 800m, as more of an Amazonian rather than Andean species.

Brechlin & Meister indicate the specimens (5 and 6 on Plate 63) depicted as A. grammodes in Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002 are actually A. grammoboliviana. On that same plate Item 7 is probably peggyae, and Item 8 is A. heppneri. I also suspect that Item 4 from western Canar, Ecuador, is A. unifasciatus, and Item 3 from Huanuco, Peru, might be grammodes, grammocuscoensis or grammocajamarcensis.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in March-April, June, August, October-November-December.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their more highly developed antennae to seek out females who release an airbourne pheromone into the night sky.

Automeris heppneri female, 78mm, Salvacion, Madre de Dios, Peru,
November-December 1998, 500m, on my home computer only.

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.

Return to Main Index

Return to Automeris Genus

Automeris grammodes Group: Comparison Chart; North to South; West; East

species
wingspan M; F
elevation


unifasciatus
?; ?
500m ?


grammopiurensis
50-54mm; ?
1100m




heppneri
56-68mm; 78mm
175-800m


grammodes
57-62mm; 61-77mm



grammocajamarcensis
48-49mm; ?
2100m


peggyae
52-58mm; 62mm
1700-3000m


grammocuscoensis
46-51mm; 68mm
1800-1850m


grammoboliviana
48-58mm; 67-71mm
1070-3000m


suteri
50-56mm; 64-70mm
2500m


haxairei
56-62mm; 70mm



Type location
extended range



W Ecuador: Bolivar;
Canar



NW Peru: Piura






Peru: Madre de Dios
Ec: Napo: Misahualli
lower elevations


Pe: Puno: Carabaya
Ecuador: Napo ??




Peru: Cajamarca:
Cutervo




Pe: Junin: Calabaza
Pe: Pasco: Oxapampa
Ecuador: Napo??


Pe: Cusco: Quilabamba;
Manu Park: S. Pedro


Bo.: La Paz: Unduavi;
Santa Cruz: Amboro;
Coch.: Sant Pedrito


Peru: Pasco: La Suiza




Bolivia




description




strong black stain around forewing ocellus
hindwing ocellus relatively small




fw cell mark small, almost filled with elongated white streak subparallel to costa
bright brownish-orange suffusion of scales on fw
hw ocellus intermediate in size, large white pupil
red hairs along hw inner margin


GC: yellowish-brown, muddy brown along costa
three muddy brown bars through cell
cell marked with central white dot



?? possible confusion with other species ??




very small species, only one specimen analyzed
very bright yellow ground colour
very small hindwing ocellus


fw: pinkish-orange ground colour, with light suffusion of darker scales
large hindwing ocellus


fw ground colour: bright yellow, with light suffusion of reddish-brown scales
hindwing ocellus smaller than A. grammodes


Ground colour: all wings darker yellow-orange as compared to most species.
hw ocellus and white pupil relatively large


forewing with large white circular cell mark
hw: extensive red hairs along i.m.
hw: broad red band outside black median line


only superficial resemblance to this group
slightly preapical pml meets i.m. outside mdpoint
hw ocellus relatively large, large white pupil