DISTRIBUTION:

The small Catacantha ferruginea moth (forewing length: males: 21-26mm; females: 30mm) (wingspan: males: 40-51mm; females: 55mm) flies in damp equatorial woods in
southeastern Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina; and
possibly northeastern Argentina: Misiones, based on image supplied by Jonathon Tubbs.

It has been taken in habitats with elevations from 300m to 1200m.

Brazil: Parana: Joinville: Guaratuba, dirtroad to Castelhanos village (right turn + ca.3 km), 2008-09-02 (Mirror).

Visit Catachantha Genus Comparison Plate

Catacantha ferruginea male, 46mm, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
September 1961, courtesy/copyright Kelly Price.

FLIGHT TIMES:

There are probably at least two broods annually with Catacantha ferruginea moths on the wing in January-February-March and again in late August-November.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING

The slightly larger female begins "calling" after 10:00 pm. Smaller males fly into the wind to pick up the scent and track the stationary female. Male ferruginea are usually on the wing from 9:30 pm until 12:30 am, but do not come in to lights readily.

Catacantha oculata female ?? courtesy of Bernhard Wenczel.

Regarding the Bernhard Wenczel image directly above, (to my knowledge) the females of ferruginea, oculata and bahiginea are unknown as of January 2014. The males of those three species are the only examples of Catacantha which have a pupilated, dark-ringed forewing ocellus.

It would appear, that in other Catacanatha species where the female is known (stramentalis, latifasciata), males of those species can have both yellow or orangey-brown forms while the known females seem to exhibit just the orangey-brown form with forewing cell markings of males and females similar.

Bahiginea is thus far only reported from Bahia, Brazil; ferruginea is reported from Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and possibly northeastern Argentina; oculata is reported from Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tag on Bernhard's image suggests the specimen is from Rio de Janeiro so I think it is most likely either a female Catocantha oculata or a female Catocantha ferruginea. I would not, however, rule out the possibility of a female bahinginea as the markings and colouration are a very good match for the male bahiginea recently described by Brechlin & Meister. Lemaire shows male oculata with both very weak forewing pm lines (as per image at top of oculata page) and stronger pm lines as in ferruginea and bahiginea. Bill Oehlke

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Typical of the Hemileucinae, larvae have urticating spines.

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.

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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.

I do not know the origin of the genus name Catacantha, but it may be for the downward (cata) turn of the rami and the bristles (cantha = thorn) on the rami.

I suspect the species name "ferruginea" refers to the rusty/ferrous colouration, particularly of the hindwings.