DISTRIBUTION:

Arsenura pandora (wingspan: males: 107-125mm; females: 125mm) flies in central Brazil: Goias, Distrito Federal, Minas Gerais, and possibly in southwestern Bahia. This species is smaller than meander and less brightly coloured, but the male genitalia are the same.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The Arsenura pandora moth is on the wing in October-November. (Eurides Furtado)

Larvae feed on Luehea divaricata.

Arsenura pandora female, Planaltina, DF, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos G. C. Mielke. copyright

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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.

Luehea divaricata.....

Ka'a oveti

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.

"In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents: Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

"When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. With her, Pandora had a jar/box which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope." Micha F. Lindemans

Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.

Return to Arsenura Genus

Return to Main Index