Rothschildia lebeau subspecies
rawths-CHILD-ee-uhmmLEH-bohmmsubspecies
Undescribed ??

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies male, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel Venters.

Eldorado is in northwestern Misiones about 75-100km south of Iguazu Falls and about 65-75km north of Dos de Mayo (elevation about 200m).

Although no Rothschildia lebeau subspecies has been officially recorded south of Puno, Peru, Nigel South indicates there could be no mix up with the source of the eggs he provided to Colin Baker. The female that deposited the eggs was definitely a wild caught female from Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina, and could not have been mixed up with any Rothschildia stock from further north, as Nigel had no such stock.

Thus an appearance of this moth in Eldorado is a mystery. Habitat in Eldorado is not significantly different from that of the Iguazu Falls area, nor from that of Dos de Mayo. There have been collecting trips to the Falls, and nothing similar has turned up there, and there is a breeder, Reinhard Foerster, in Dos de Mayo who has reared many local Rothschildia species. In neighboring Itapua, Paraguay, Paul Smith and colleagues have been doing extensive collecting and documentation throughout Paraguay, but nothing similar (other than arethusa: although adult moths are similar, larvae are very different) has turned up.

Rothschildia lebeau ssp, males, recto and verso, Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel venters.

Alto Parana and Itapua are Paraguayan states that border the northeastern extension of Argentina into and including Misiones.

Reinhard Foerster in Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina, reports local aurota speculifera; jacobaeae; hesperus lutea; and hopfferi. He also rears them on his Saturniidae farm. Those four species are consistent with the Alto Parana and Itapua, Paraguay fauna.

From Uruguay to the south only aurota speculifera and jacobaeae have been documented, and from Brazil: Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana (CM = Carlos Mielke), Santa Catarina (CL = Claude Lemaire), and Rio Grande do Sul (CL) to the north and east only the following have been recorded:
Parana: arethusa CM, aurota speculifera CM, belus CM, hesperus betis CM, hesperus lutea CM, hopfferi CL, jacobaeae CM;
Santa catarina: belus CL, hopfferi CL;
Rio Grande do Sul: belus CL, hopfferi CL, jacobaeae CL.

Larvae of all species listed above are quite different from the larval images provided by Colin Baker. Colin's images of adult moths and larvae, are very similar to Rothschildia lebeau inca whose nearest presence to Eldorado, Missiones, Argentina, is in Puno, Peru.

My conclusions/thoughts would be any one of the following, not necessarily in any order of preference:
1) Nigel South has encountered and Colin Baker has reared a previously undocumented Rothschildia species/subspecies from Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina. It appears very closely allied with Rothschildia lebeau inca from Central America and western South America. It would also appear to be quite localized, and possibly rare.
2) The moths and larvae are those of one of the newly (2010) described (Brechlin and Meister) Rothschildia species which I have not seen as yet. Nor do I have range distributions for the newly described species.
3) Nigel South captured an escaped or released Rothschildia lebeau subspecies from much further north that some other collector, breeder had brought into the area. A paired female may have escaped from a breeding/emergence cage. Another longshot is that possibly cocoons came in on imported trees. R. l. inca reportedly feeds on cherry.
4) The species is actually much more widespread than indicated, and specimens taken in other surrounding areas have been mistaken for Rothschildia arethusa, which has also been taken from the same area in Eldorado.

I think it would be wise for some specimens to be submitted for barcoding analysis, and I recommended same. Hope there will be some follow up. I am also hoping that some of the breeders/collectors in immediate or surrounding areas will keep their eyes open for more specimens of this moth, so I will send notices of this posting to Ezequiel Nunez Bustos (collects Sphingidae throughout Argentina and has sent images and data from northern Misiones; collaborates with others), Reinhard Foerster (Dos de Mayo, Misiones, Argentina), Paul Smith (Itapua, Paraguay; collaborates with others), Ulf Drechsel (Paraguay), Carlos Mielke (southeastern Brazil).

I will also send notices to Carlos Marzano and Alejandro Bourquez of Buenos Aires, Argentina to the south, and to Oz Rittner who visits Buenos Aires.

Nigel South and Colin Baker and Nigel Venters will also be alerted.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies male, 111mm, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel Venters.

DISTRIBUTION:

The Rothschilida lebeau subspecies depicted on this page originate from a female taken in Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina, by Nigel South, and subsequent rearings by Colin Baker.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Larvae were reared on Privet (Ligustrum) by Colin Baker.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen and pheromones are distributed into the night sky. Males fly into the wind and track the pheromone plume with their highly developed antennae.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies (verso), Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies female, 112mm, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via Nigel Venters.

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I think the only species known from surrounding areas that could be confused with these specimens is Rothschildia arethusa. I am including images of an arethusa male and an arethusa female for comparison.

I also note the following differences between arethusa and the moth in question:
The forewing pm line of arethusa is more concave than in lebeau, especially above the intersection with the forewing hyaline spot.
There are two to five grey spots in the apical area of arethusa that are absent, black, in lebeau.
The pink apical patch of lebeau is more prominent and has a distinct white, L-shaped or hockey stick-shaped bottom edge running (extensively) along the wing vein.
The hindwing pm line in arethusa turns more toward the body below the hyaline spot in arethusa, but continues more toward the hindwing anal angle (less sharply angled) in lebeau.
The dark patches in both the forewings and hindwings are more distinct in lebeau than in arethusa, especially without suffusion of pink near hindwing anal angle in lebeau.
The underside of the thorax and abdomen of arethusa have much more white than in lebeau.

Rothschildia arethusa arethusa male, Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
October 6, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Rothschildia arethusa female courtesy of Leroy Simon

Rothschildia arethusa arethusa male (verso), Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
October 6, 2010, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

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EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Nigel venters writes, "I enclose some pictures of the spread adults and the subsequent larvae from the 2nd generation he (Colin Baker) bred from the eggs originating from Misiones, Argentina. Hope we can get to the bottom of this species and find out what it really is!

"The adult female wingspan, (Spread) ranges between 94mm to 112mm. The males between 94 and 111mm, so pretty much the same size! (Which surprised me)."

Eggs are deposited in the evening on host plant leaves in rows of three to six. Young caterpillars feed in groups while older ones are (in the wild) solitary feeders.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, first instars, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, second instars, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, second and third instars, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, third instars, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, fourth instar, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, fourth and fifth instar, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Rothschildia lebeau subspecies, fifth instars, Misiones, Argentina,
courtesy of Colin Baker, via of Nigel Venters.

Below are descriptions of Rothschildia lebeau inca larvae.

First instar larvae are black with yellow rings. There are some yellow dots and dashes on the black heads.

Second instar larvae are black, and the yellow rings are replaced by prominent yellow scoli.

Third instar larvae show a rather dramatic color change as they are black with the orange-tipped scoli now green, with a rectangular green base, expanding toward the posterior end.

The cocoon hangs on a twig during the winter, attached by a strong silken stem.

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.

Ligustrum vulgare...... Ligustrum ovalifolium..... Prunus

Privet Privet Cherry

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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.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

"Rothschildia" is chosen to honour one of the Rothschilds, possibly William.

The species name, lebeau, is honourific for Lebeau.