DISTRIBUTION:

Procitheronia purpurea (wingspan: males: 96-121mm; females: 124-128mm // forewing length: males: 57mm; females: larger) flies in
southeastern Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Parana (CM), Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina: Rio Natal (JH), Rio Grande do Sul; and
Argentina: Misiones: Pozo Azul, Ruta 17, October, 2001, (RSL).

It is interesting that this genus is comprised of moths having the wing shape of Eacles but wing colouration of Citheronia. Note purplish brown colouration of purpurea.

Procitheronia purpurea, Rio Natal, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
October 23, 2011, courtesy of Jean Haxaire.

Procitheronia purpurea (male), Brazil, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

There are possibly two generations annually with Procitheronia purpurea moths on the wing in February-March (possibly) and then in October-November.

Procitheronia purpurea larval hosts are unknown.

Procitheronia purpurea (female), Brazil, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the posterior tip of the abdomen after dark.

The slightly smaller, more brigthly coloured males use their more highly developed antennae to locate the calling females, usually between midnight and 3:00 am.

Males of this subfamily have antennae which are quadripectinate for the basal two-thirds of their length.

Procitheronia purpurea Brazil, courtesy of Laurent Le Cerf.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Eggs are large and yellow. Just before emergence, the tiny caterpillar becomes visible through the transparent eggshell.

Pupation is underground in a small cell.

Sixth instar larva

Procitheronia principalis or P. purpurea fifth instar, Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
February 15, 2013, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

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.

Return to Citheronia Index or Procitheronia Index Return to Main Index 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. The source of the genus name Procitheronia is the likeness of members of this genus to the genus Citheronia. "Citheronia" is probably derived from Mount Citheron (Greek mythology), an untamed wilderness, exempt from the laws of civilization. The goddesses go naked there and are free from any of the pressures of society. The species name "purpurea" is for the purplish-brown colouration of the wings. This website has been created and is maintained by Bill Oehlke without government or institutional financial assistance. All expenses, ie., text reference support material, webspace rental from Bizland and 1 & 1, computer repairs/replacements, backups systems, software for image adjustments (Adobe Photoshop; L-View), ftp software, anti-virus protection, scanner, etc. are my own. The one-time-life-time membership fee that is charged at the time of the registration covers most of those expenses. I very much appreciate all the many images that have been sent to me, or of which I have been granted permission to copy and post from other websites. All images on this site remain the property of respective photographers. If you would like to contribute to the maintenace of this website by sending a contribution to Bill Oehlke Box 476 155 Peardon Road Montague, Prince Edward Island, C0A1R0 Canada your donation would be much appreciated and would be used for 1) paying for webspace rental; 2) paying for computer maintenance and software upgrades; 3) purchases of additional text reference material (journals and books) in an effort to stay current with new species; 4) helping to pay my daughter's tuition (completed spring of 2013). I also hope to expand the North American Catocala site as well as the Sphingidae of the Americas site, to worldwide sites, and that will require additional funds for reference materials, etc. Both of those site are linked from your WLSS homepage. If you are mailing a check from USA, please use $0.85 postage ($1.15 is 2015 rate; beware!). Donations can also be made through Paypal via the button below. Donations are not required to maintain your standing as a WLSS member, nor do they gain you any preferencial treatment with regard to livestock and/or supplies (sleeves), compared to other WLSS members. All WLSS members get first crack at my annual offerings and get an approximate discount of 10% as compared to non-members. I do usually ask donors if they have any special requests for material on WLSS, and I try to accomodate when appropriate or within my ability to do so.