DISTRIBUTION:

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea (wingspan: males: 160-172mm; females: 160mm) flies in damp tropical and equatorial woods in
southeastern Brazil: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Parana (CM), Santa Catarina: Massaranduba (JAR), probably Sao Paulo (confirmed SML).

This subspecies is larger than the nominate species and the lower wing shape is less angular than in other subspecies.

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea, Ilhabela, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
May 18, 2016, Sergio Messias Leal, id by Bill Oehlke.

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea/pseudomartii, Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil,
September 17, 2016, Nadia Magalhaes, id by Bill Oehlke.

This moth may have been elevated to full species status.

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea, male, Joinville, SC, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke.

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea/pseudomartii, male, Massaranduba, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
December 12, 2014, Joao Amarildo Ranguetti, tentative id by Bill Oehlke,
leaning more toward pseudomartii as per notes below.

This moth could easily be confused with Rhescyntis pseudomartii, but four to five pm lines are visible in pseudomartii, while there are only a maximum of three much fainter lines/arcs in a darker gigantea.

The inward turn of the hindwing, cream-coloured, post-median line of R. h. gigantea seems more angulate and begins nearer the costa; while the same line in R. pseudmartii seems to be a smoother arc, with the inward turn beginning further from the costal apex.

The paler subterminal area of R. h. gigantea seems broader than the same area in R. pseudomartii.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in January. (Eurides Furtado) Nicodemus Rosa reports an Ocotber 15, 2010, flight in Pitangui, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Pitangui is west-north-west of Belo Horizonte, about one-fifth of the way to Uberlandia. Joao Amarildo Ranguetti reports a December flight in Santa Catarina.

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea male, Pitangui, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
courtesy of Nicodemus Rosa, via "lepido, France".

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea, female, Joinville, SC, Brazil,
courtesy of Carlos Mielke.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Rhescyntis hippodamia gigantea males use their antennae to seek out females which scent at night.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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 Rhescyntis Genus

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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 'Rhescyntis' chosen by Hubner in 1819.

The species name 'hippodamia' is from Greek mythology. Hippodamia, the daughter of Oenomaus, wished to marry Pelops, so she persuaded Myrtilus, son of Hermes, to help Pelops win the chariot race against her father, according to Apollodorus.

The subspecies name, 'gigantea', is for the very large size of this moth.