Othorene verana veroaxensis
Updated as per Entomo Satsphingia Jahrgang 4 Heft 3 23.08.2011; February 1, 2012

Othorene verana veroaxensis
oh-theh-REE-nehMver-ANN-uhMver-oh-ah-HEN-sis
Brechlin & Meister 2011

Othorene verana veroaxensis male,
copyright protected, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841
Genus: Othorene, Boisduval, 1872

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DISTRIBUTION:

Othorene verana veroaxensis (wingspan: males: 84mm; females: mm // forewing length: males: 42-47mm; females: 55-56mm) flies in
Mexico: Oaxaca; at elevations of 702-1950m.

In 2011, Brechlin & Meister named, described and depicted three new subspecies/species in the Verana Group, listed below from north to south with regard to specimen type location:

Verana Group:

Othorene verana verana mfwl=33-39mm, Mexico: San Luis Potosi; orangey ground colour; pm line bends down toward i.m.
Othorene verana veroaxensis mfwl=42-47mm, Mexico: Oaxaca;
Othorene verana verapaziana mfwl=37-44mm, Guatemala: Alta Verapaz; Baja Verapaz; Solola; Izabal; dark brown ground colour; pm line bends down toward i.m.
Othorene bernardoespinozai mfwl=34-38mm, Costa Rica: Guanacaste; Nicaragua: Jinotega; orangey ground colour; undulating fw outer margin

O. verana veroaxensis males have a forewing groundcolour which is a lighter, brighter brown with hardly any pink in the basal and postmedian areas, compared to the other three members of the Verana Group.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Othorene verana veroaxensis have have been taken in . There are probably additional flight months.

Larvae probably feed upon Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) and other oak species (Quercus oleoides).

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use highly developed antennae to locate females at night by tracking the airbourne pheromone plume.

Both sexes probably come in to lights with peak activity likely from 10:30 pm until 1:30 am.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

The following descriptions are for the nominate subspecies, but I suspect "veroaxensis" larvae would be quite similar.

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 gambelii
Quercus oleoides......
Quercus robur (TD)

Gambel oak
Oak species
English oak

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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.

I do not know the origin of the genus name Othorene.

Nor do I know the reason for the species name "verana". The subspecies name veroaxensis is indicative of a specimen type location in Oaxaca, Mexico, and a similarity to Othorene verana verana.

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Othorene verana veroaxensis male, Oaxaca, Mexico,
84mm, on my home computer only.