DISTRIBUTION:

The Leucanella maasseni moth (wingspan: males: 63-83mm; females: 81-97mm) flies in
French Guiana: Cayenne, Regina, Coralie, Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, Saul;
Panama: Darien (disjunct record);
Venezuela: Bolivar;
Suriname: Marowijne;
Ecuador: Sucumbios, Napo, Morona-Santiago and possibly Pastaza;
Peru: Huanuco, Cusco, Madre de Dios, Loreto (SS);
Brazil: Para, Mato Grosso; and
Bolivia: La Paz;
in tropical rain forests and savannas at elevations of 175 - 1500 m.

Those specimens taken on eastern slopes of the Andes from 500-1800m from Pastaza, Ecuador, south to and including La Paz, Bolivia, are more likely L. maandensis, based on 2011 DNA barcoding results. I have moved the images of the pair from Nor Yungas, La Paz, Bolivia, courtesy of Thibaud to the L. maandensis file.

Leucanella maasseni male, Gran Sabana, Bolivar, Venezuela,
January 1, 2009, courtesy of Artour A..

Leucanella maasseni male, Gran Sabana, Bolivar, Venezuela,
January 1, 2009, courtesy of Artour A..

The very small male has an elongated falcate forewing with the postmedial line very preapical.

Leucanella maasseni male, French Guiana,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

Leucanella maasseni male, Venezuela,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck;
considerable digital reconstruction by Bill Oehlke.

The female is considerably larger and rounder.

The yellow-orange ring surrounding the eyespot is undulate toward the outer margin, more so in females than in males.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Specimens have been taken January-April, June-December, suggesting three or more broods annually.

Leucanella maasseni larvae probably will eat Ligustrum.

Perhaps the very reddish-brown specimen below from northeastern Peru is L. newmani.

Leucanella maasseni?? (probably some other species) female, Loreto, Peru,
September 12, 2008, courtesy of Shirley Sekarajasingham, id by Bill Oehlke.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use well-developed antennae to seek out females which scent at night from 10:30 until midnight.

Leucanella maasseni female, French Guiana, courtesy of Jean-marc Meunier

Leucanella maasseni courtesy of Entomo Service

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

relatively large, oval, white eggs are laid in clusters, and larvae, which probably have yellow and/or white urticating spines projecting from a black skin, feed gregariously.

The cocoons are probably brown, sturdy, leaf-wrapped and secured to a stem or twig.

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.

Ligustrum Ligustrum vulgare.......

Privet Common privet

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 "Leucanella" chosen by Lemaire in 1969. PERHAPS (pure speculation by Bill Oehlke) it was chosen for the "little light" spots surrounding the pupil in the type species leucane.

The species name "maasseni" is honourific for Maassen.

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Leucanella maasseni male, French Guiana, specimen courtesy of Rodolphe Rougerie,
photo copyright Rene Lahousse, French Guiana Systematique, on my home computer only.

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