DISTRIBUTION:

Arsenura paraorbignyana (wingspan: males: mm; females: mm) flies in
Paraguay: Asuncion, collected by U. Drechsel, 1998-03-23 (Mirror);
Paraguay: Caazapa: Colonia Neufeld, -26.4667, -55.9167, collected by U. Drechsel, 2008-10-24, 2008-02-10 (Mirror);
Paraguay: Caazapa: Olmedo, -26.2167, -55.6, collected by U. Drechsel, 2008-09-26 (Mirror);
Paraguay: Kanindeyu: Agr. Armiticio, -24.5667, -54.5333, collected by U. Drechsel, 2008-01-11 (Mirror);
Argentina: Misiones: Dos de Mayo, collected by R. Foerster, 2004-11-01
Argentina: Misiones: San Pedro, collected by R. Foerster, 2004-12-06
Argentina: Misiones, 2008-03-01.

Arsenura paraorbignyana female, Paratype, Paraguay,
courtesy of John Kamps copyright

Orbignyana Groupe

Arsenura orbignyana

Arsenura paraorbignyana

Longitudinal line of forewing cell perpendicular to costa in both orbignyana and paraorbignyana. Hindwing marginal markings browner/larger in orbinyana; greyer/smaller in paraorbignyana Hindwing marginal area with more white in paraorbignyana

Arsenura angulatus

Arsenura xanthopus

Longitudinal line of fw cell not perpendicular to costa; cell mark lower-end angled more toward body Xanthopus has yellow legs, greyer, darker ground colour, practically devoid of white in in submarginal/marginal area; fw apex slightly produced

Based on DNA barcoding those specimens from Paraguay and Argentina are Arsenura paraorbignyana. Bill Oehlke (January 12, 2012)

Arsenura paraorbignyana, ECOCOSARA, San Rafael, Itapua, Paraguay,
October-November, 2004, courtesy of Alberto Esquivel.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Arsenura paraorbignyana is on the wing in January-February-March, September-October-November-December and possibly in other months. If my identification of the moth image provided by James Colburn is correct, there is also an August flight.

Larvae feed on ?

Arsenura paraorbignyana, Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina, courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Arsenura paraorbignyana, courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

Arsenura paraorbignyana, courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

Arsenura paraorbignyana, courtesy of Reinhard Foerster.

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.

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 paraorbignyana probably comes for this moth's similarity to Arsenura orbignyana whose species name "orbignyana" is probably honourific for the Bolivian location of d'Orbigny, named for the French naturalist, Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny.

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