Lemon-yellow, translucent eggs are deposited singly or in small clusters of up to six. The larvae become visible through the egg shells a day or so before emerging.

Larvae are solitary in their feeding habits and have extensive thoracic scoli. At maturity, larvae descend trees to pupate in underground chambers. Pupae should be stored under cool, but above freezing temperatures, and sprinkling with water a few times a week in spring encourages subsequent eclosions.

Eacles ormondei niepelti third instar larva, Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
March 6, 2007, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Eacles ormondei niepelti fourth instar larva, Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
March, 2007, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Eacles ormondei niepelti fifth instar larva, Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
April, 2007, courtesy of Horst Kach.

Eacles ormondei niepelti larva, courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are the primary and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or on various internet sites or from personal communication. 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.

Liquidambar styraciflua HK ....... Quercus Rhus laurina...... Salix

Sweetgum Oak Laurel sumac Willow

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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.

I do not know the source of the genus name "Eacles", but it may be a combination of "Ea", the Greek word for gods and goddesses and the Greek suffix "cles", meaning 'glory of'.

The species name "ormondei" is honourific for Ormonde.

The subspecies name "niepelti" is honourific for Wilhelm Niepelt.

Eacles ormondei niepelti female, Claude Lemaire