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Updated from Polillas Saturnidas de Colombia, 1997, Angela R. Amarillo-S., January 2007 Updated as per Lemaire's Attacidae 1978, March 12, 2007 Updated as per personal communication with Robert Lehman (Honduras), April 2007 Updated as per personal communication with Ronald D. Cave (Honduras and El Salvador), July 2007 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 http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/k02/p05/c029/o0119/f00885.htm IB Updated as per personal communication with Kelly Price (Hidalgo, Mexico), November 2008 Updated as per Entomo Satsphingia Yahrgang 3 Heft 412.08.2010; March 11, 2012 |
Copaxa garciorum/multifenestrata male, Mexico,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.
The forewing shape (less produced, less pointed forewing apex, and less oblique outer margin of the Kelly Price specimen posted on the garciorum page) seems a better match for the Entomo Satphingia image of garciorum than the does the image above, which may therefore be C. multifenestrata. I will also post it to the garciorum page.
TAXONOMY:Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 |
"What.A.Wonderful.World" |
The western population has larvae that tend to be dark with red and/or yellow markings and males that tend to run more red in color. Claude Lemaire recently named this population Copaxa rufa as per this page.
The Eastern population tends to have green larvae, and males are more dull brown in color, but occasionally you see bright yellow males or females.
There are multiple (the number varies) discal spots on all four wings.
Kirby Wolfe reports that this species tends to be consistently smaller than Copaxa mazaorum with most C. mazaorum males having wingspans of 120mm or more. He does have, however, a male C. multifenestrata from Costa Rica with a wingspan of 110mm.
All notes above must be reconsidered with the description of many new species in the multifenestrata group in
2010 by Brechlin and Meister. I now believe that Copaxa multifenestrata (mfwl: 42mm) is a relatively small moth with a male wingspan less than 85mm;
females would be slightly larger than that. It might be limited in its range to south eastern Mexico and Belize,
being replaced by other similar species in southwestern Mexico and Central America.
Perhaps the specimen below from Honduras is C. multifestrata.
I have just visited the specimens listed as C. multifenestrata on Dan Janzen's very comprehensive website for Costa Rica. The three specimens depicted seem
to be two distinct species and I favour C. conlani and C. schmiti and have posted images to those pages respectively.
Copaxa multifenestrata (more likely C. hondfenestrata), Honduras, July 2006, courtesy of Eduardo Marabuto.
Larvae feed upon avocado (Persea americana) and Sallow or Goat willow (Salix capraea).
Copaxa multifenestrata female, Mexico,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.
Mature larvae have both a green form and a dark form.Dark form to the right courtesy of Chris Conlan. |
The green form to the right is by Leroy Simon. |
Liquidambar styraciflua....... | Sweetgum |
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