Eacles ormondei ormondei

Eacles ormondei ormondei
ee-UH-kleesmor-MOND-eye
Schaus, 1889

Eacles ormondei moth.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
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: Eacles, Hübner, [1819]
Species: ormondei, Schaus, 1889

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DISTRIBUTION:

Eacles ormondei (wingspan: males: 102-126-135mm (RL); females: 126-128mm) flies in
Mexico: Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas;
Belize: Cayo, Stann Creek, Toledo;
Guatemala: Zacapa;
Nicaragua: Jinotega, Matagalpa, Zelaya;
Costa Rica: Cartago, San Jose and Puntarenas (CL), Alajuela, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon (IB);
Panama: Chirqui;
Honduras: Cortes (EM), Olancho, Yoro (RC), Atlantida (RL); and
El Salvador.

Eacles ormondei ormondei male, Cortes, Honduras, courtesy/copyright Eduardo Marabuto.

Most of the male forewing is a diffuse orange with a generous speckling of dark scales and yellow scales showing through. There are yellow patches near the apex and anal angle and on the body side of the cell spots. The dark apical pm line is straight and intersects the inner margin about 2/3 of its distance from the body. The fw outer margin is straight.

The specimen type for the nominate subspecies is Mexico: Veracruz. Various subspecies have been recognized with the following specimen type locales (from north to south):
Eacles ormondei yucatanensis, Mexico: Yucatan (HT);
Eacles ormondei janzeni, Nicaragua: Jinotega (HT) and Sergovia; and Costa Rica: Alajuela; Heredia; Guanacaste;
Eacles ormondei vanschaycki, Costa Rica: Limon (HT) and Cartago;
Eacles ormondei niepelti, Colombia (HT);
Eacles ormondei violacea, Ecuador (HT);
Eacles ormondei peruviana Peru (HT).

I do not know if one subspecies relaces another as per the listings above or whether there are dry forest/rain forest species in the same country or high elevation, medium elevation, low elevation species that might fly in the same countries. Nor do I know where the range of one subspecies ends and another begins. I will do my best to try to match the images that are presented to me to the information and documentation I have on hand. Visit Eacles ormondei males, La Ceiba (120m), Atlantida and La Muralla (1420), Olancho, Honduras, courtesy of Robert Lehman.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

In Costa Rica, Eacles ormondei moths are on the wing in March-April-May and then again in July-August-September. Robert Lehman reports May and September flights in Honduras.

Natural hosts are Prunus annularis, Guarea glabra and Meliosme glabrata. In captivity Quercus and Rhus laurina are accepted.

Eacles ormondei female, Chiapas, Mexico, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females, which are much plainer than males, mate around 10:00 P.M., and the pair remains coupled until the following evening. Upon separation, the females begin their ovipositing flights.

Eacles ormondei female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Eacles ormondei ormondei female, Claude Lemaire.

Eacles ormondei ormondei male, Claude Lemaire.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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. These images are courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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.

Larvae often take on a pinkish-purplish hue at pupation time as evidenced by the full-sized larva below.

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.

Guarea glabra
Meliosme glabrata
Prunus annularis......
Quercus
Rhus laurina

Mahogany
Meliosme glabrata
Prunus annularis
Oak
Laurel sumac

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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.