Moths fly at night and females emit an airbourne pheromone to "call" the males. Eclosion from pupae seems to be under cover of darkness.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Titaea tamerlan nobilis eggs, January 21, 2007, Lita, Esmeraldas, Ecuador,
courtesy of Horst Kach.

Eggs typically incubate for seven to eight days. First instar larvae are well adorned with protective "spikes", especially long and bifurcate on thoracic segments. Images courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Colour and patterning change dramatically as these larvae move into subsequent instars. This second instar larva may have protective camouflage of "bird dropping".

Colours change with each subsequent moult, and now basic green colour prevails. A central yellow dorsal line, suggesting a leaf vein, runs the length of the caterpillar.

Larvae bulk up considerably in final instar where they are without "horns". Caterpillars will descend trees to pupate in the soil.

Mature larvae pupate underground. Larvae accept Bombacaceae, Chorisia speciosa and Tiliaceae

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. 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.

Bombacopsis quinatum.....

Bombacopsis quinatum

Titaea tamerlan nobilis third instar, Lita, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, courtesy of Horst Kach.

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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.

The genus name "Titaea" comes from the Greek Titaea, who is the mother of the Titans.

Tamerlan is a ruthless military leader whose ambition for power and fame lead him to defeat his Turkish emperor, Bayaset.

Th subspecies name, "nobilis", is probably from the same title, "Nobilis", given to Caesar: Noble Caesar.