Polythysana apollina
pol-lee-thigh-ZAY-nuhmmah-pol-LYE-nuh
R. Felder & Rogenhofer, 1874

Polythysana apollina female courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

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TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866 Tribe: Polythysanini, Michener, 1952 Genus: Polythysana, Walker, 1855

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DISTRIBUTION:

The Polythysana apollina moth (forewing length: males: 33-41mm; females: 41-52mm) flies in central Chile: Valparaiso, Santiago, Colchagua, Curico, Talca, Nuble and Valdivia at elevations from 1000-3000m.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The Polythysana apollina caterpillar shows a preference for the evergreens: Mayten (Maytenus boaria) and red laurel (Cryptocarya rubra), but also feeds on Sweetgum (Liquidambar straciflua) and Avocado (Persea americana).

Lemaire adds Crinodenrum patagua, Aristotelia chilensis and Kageneckia oblonga.

Moths are on the wing during December and February-March. Males fly with other Polythysana species at midday. Females fly in late afternoon to after dark.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from simple, pear-shaped, open mesh cocoons.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Polythysana apollina females emit an airbourne pheromone and the smaller males use their highly developed antennae to track the scent plume during the day to locate the calling females.

EGGS, CATERPILLARS, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Mature larvae spin a simple, pear-shaped, open mesh cocoon and have the urticating spines typical of the Hemileucinae.

Polythysana apollina larva courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or on various internet sites. 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.

Aristotelia chilensis Crinodendron patagua....... Cryptocarya rubra...... Cryptocarya peumus Kageneckia oblonga Liquidambar Maytenus boaria Persea americana

Maqui Lily Of The Valley Tree Red laurel Cryptocarya Peumus Kageneckia oblonga Sweetgum Mayten Avocado

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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.

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 "Polythysana" chosen by Walker in 1855.

The species name "apollina" probably comes from the Greek, where Apolline is a girl's name, meaning sunshine. This may refer to the male's daytime flight (9:00 am - 2:00pm) or to the bright slightly yellowish-white ground colour.

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