DISTRIBUTION:

The Copiopteryx semiramis andensis moth (wingspan: males: 98-129mm; females: 114-132mm) flies at relatively low elevations (400m-650m-1150m) in
Venezuela: Aragua, Miranda;
western Ecuador: Esmeraldas (HK), Manabi (LTR), Pichincha, Canar, El Oro (LTR) and Los Rios (LTR); and
western Colombia: Choco and Valle del Cauca and in
Costa Rica: Cartago (CL), Alajuela, Guanacaste (dry forest and rain forest; DJ), Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose;
and Panama: Chiriqui (CL), Barro Colorado Island (TDS) and Colon: "near the Atlantic entrance to the Canal Zone." (AT).

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis, Barro Colorado Island, Panama,
January 10, 2004, courtesy of Tom D. Schultz.

This subspecies is the largest and showiest of the group. Tails are especially long and broad and forewing brown is deep, without any trace of rosy or purplish tint.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis male, courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Copiopteryx semiramis flies late at night and larvae feed on Manilkara chicle (Sapodilla). Acanthosyris spinescens and Pouteria caimito have also been reported as hosts. I suspect June-July as well as a fall flight. Hubert Mayer reports a January flight in Alluriquin, Pichincha, Ecuador. Roger Ahlman reports an April flight in Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis female, Canar, Ecuador,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke copyright.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis female, Alluriquin, Pichincha, Ecuador,
January 6, 2003, 930m, courtesy of Hubert Mayer, copyright.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females have much shorter hind wing tails than males do, and emit a pheromone at night to "call" in the males.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis, female, Choco foothills, Canande, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
April 28, 2006, 400m, courtesy of Roger Ahlman, id by Bill Oehlke.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Early instar larvae are spiny and hatch from eggs after approximately fourteen days of development.

Tiny larvae feed on leaf tips from underside veins.

Pupation is in early (pre-dawn) morning in subterranean chambers.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Copiopteryx semiramis andensis, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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.

Acanthosyris spinescens ....... Manilkara chicle Pouteria caimito

Acanthosyris spinescens Sapodilla yellow star apple, caimito, camio, luma

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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.

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.

The genus name "Copiopteryx" comes from the Greek word "pterygion" for wing.

The species name "semiramis" is probably from Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod and queen of Babylon. The subspecies name "andensis" means from the Andes.