DISTRIBUTION:

Hirpida chuquisaciana (wingspan: males: 57-60mm; females: 63-66mm // forewing length: males: 30-31mm; females: 33-34mm) flies in
Bolivia: Chuquisaca: Padilla-Monteagudo, -19.31, -64.1, collected by Viktor Sinjaev, 2009-12-23.

It also appears to also be in
Argentina: Salta Province, based on image below.

This species flies at elevations from 1600-2600m.

Hirpida chuquisaciana, possibly H. jujuylinea female, Salta Province, Argentina,
courtesy of Fernando Penco.

Fernando Penco writes (previous to descriptions of H. chuquisaciana and H. jujuylinea), "Here I am sending another photo, please, I have no idea not even genera of this bug. (Is a Saturniidae?). Is from Salta Province too. Could be a Hirpida sp or close? Could be a new sp? Thank you in advance."

I had replied, "I am pretty sure this is a female Hirpida nigrolinea, although the pointed, slightly produced apex and shape of the outer margin appear different from Lemaire's image, and the image I have from Bernhard Wenczel.

Salta Province, Argentina, would be slightly south of the stated range. It might therefore be an undescribed species. Bill Oehlke.

Tentative ids also by Carlos Mielke, Bernhard Wenczel, Luigi Racheli.

I am now pretty sure that this is Hirpida chuquisaciana (HT Chuquisaca, Bolivia) or Hirpida jujuyensis (HT Jujuy, Argentina), and I favour the former, largely due to darker shading in the pm and subterminal areas. In H. jujuylinea, and also in H. santacruziana (HT Santa Cruz, Bolivia) those same areas seem much lighter and brighter.

In both the male and the female the upper third of the forewing outer margin is slightly hollowed out, while the lower two thirds of the outer margin is noticeably convex.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken in April, October and December. There are probably other flight months.

Larvae possibly feed on oak species.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen, and the night-flying males pickup and track the airbourne pheromone plume with their well-developed antennae.

Females are likely most active right after dusk. The male, above, was taken early in the evening.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in clusters on hostplant foliage.

Hirpida chuquisaciana larvae are highly gregarious and have the urticating spines typical of larvae from the Subfamily Hemileucinae.

The species name is indicative of a specimen type locale in Chuquisaca, Bolivia.

Larval Food Plants

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the anticipated ?? foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Quercus.......

Oak

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