Ceropoda tibialis moth courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Ceropoda tibialis male, on my home computer only.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@pei.sympatico.ca
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841 Genus: Ceropoda, Michener, 1949 Species: tibialis, W. Rothschild, 1907

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DISTRIBUTION:

The small Ceropoda tibialis moth (wingspan: males: 41mm; females: 52mm) flies in damp equatorial woods in equatorial South America:
Brazil: Mato Grosso;
and Paraguay: Alto Paraguay; to possibly ?? Peru (doubtful) at elevations between 200-1200 meters above sea level.

Sometimes the males have a yellow forewing with a pink postmedial line. The white discal spot is usually surrounded in pink. I am not sure that the specimen depicted is actually tibialis.

FLIGHT TIMES:

There are possibly two broods annually with Ceropoda tibialis moths on the wing in February and again in October.

ECLOSION:

Typical of the Ceratocampinae, adult Ceropoda tibialis moths emerge from underground pupae.

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.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE

Under natural conditions larvae would leave the food plant at pupation time and burrow underground to pupate.

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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