Paradaemonia pluto
pair-uh-day-MOH-nee-uhmmPLOO-toh
(Westwood, [1854]) (Saturnia)

Paradaemonia pluto, male, Cachoeiras de Macacu, RJ, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke. copyright

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Arsenurinae, Jordan, 1922 Tribe: Arsenurini, Jordan, 1922 Genus: Paradaemonia, Bouvier, 1925

MIDI MUSIC "The.Girl.from.Ipanema" midi by Mel Webb ON.OFF <bgsound src="Ipanem.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

The Paradaemonia pluto moth (wingspan: males: 109-118mm; females: 130mm plus) flies at elevations of 160-900 meters in southeastern Brazil: Rio de Janeiro.

The ground colour is chestnut brown with contrasting purplish shadings. The outer line of the double median band diverges at M3. The antemedian band is also double.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are probably at least two generations annually with moths probably on the wing in February and then probably again in June and July.

Paradaemonia pluto, female, Cachoeiras de Macacu, RJ, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke. copyright

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Males use well-developed antennae to seek out females which scent at night. Both sexes come in to lights from midnight until 3:00 am.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Larvae pass through five or six instars depending upon quantity and quality of food available.

Pupae are formed in a brown cocoon.

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.

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 "Paradaemonia" chosen by Bouvier in 1925. It could be because these moths are so similar to "Dysdaemonia", a combination meaning 'bad spirit'.

The species name "pluto" is from Greek mythology where Pluto is lord of Hades.

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