-
Giant Silkworm Moth Caterpillar (Lonomia obliqua) front view -
Jaguar emerging from cover -
Morpho epistrophus cf. argentinus - Epistrophus White Morpho / Borboleta-da-Coronilha (Fruhstorfer, 1907) -
Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus ariel) -
Drosera filiformis - Thread-Leaved Sundew (Raf. (1808)) -
![Thysania zenobia - Mariposa-Coruja / Owl Moth / Owlet Moth (Cramer, 1776) Lepidoptera: Bombycina: Noctuoidea: Erebidae: Erebinae: Thermesiini
Another picture: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/62098/thysania_zenobia_-_mariposa-coruja_owl_moth_owlet_moth_cramer_1776.html
And another:
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/62097/thysanura_4-2.html
More pictures here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1716585039
Location: Brazil, Ceará, Fortaleza (Lat: -3.75, Long: -38.51, 16th floor of a flat in an urban habitat)
Date: 10th of May, 2018 at 07:52:23pm.
Thysania zenobia is an uncommon moth in the order Lepidoptera, subdivision Bombycina, superfamily Noctuoidea, family Erebidae, subfamily Erebinae and tribe Thermesiini. This is a male. The name "Thysania" comes from the Greek, "Thysanus", meaning "a fringe", and "Zeno" means "Zenon", derived from the theonym "Zeus".
According to Butterflies and Moths (https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Thysania-zenobia):
Males can be distinguished from females through the observation of the forewings' stripe going from one end of the forewings to the other; this is absent in females. BugGuide states that males are more boldly marked (source at the end). They possess many zig-zag lines on all wings. Their hindwings are scalloped with grey outer margins of the forewings. Thysania zenobia are huge moths with a wingspan that ranges from 10 to 15cm. Thysania agrippina, another species of Thysania, are considered the largest moths wingspan-wise in the Americas, with a whopping 30cm wingspan. According to an unreliable source, Thysania agrippina has the most potent sense of smell in nature (http://www.rankbrasil.com.br/Recordes/Materias/0Laa/Maior_Mariposa_Do_Brasil) - Disconsider the picture; part of the information in there might be wrong).
A synonym is: Phalaena zenobia (Cramer, [1777]).
The moth is grey with, usually, blueish markings on the upperside of the wings (perhaps purple as well?) and an orangeish-red or brownish-cream underside. The antennae are setaceous and are dark brown. The thorax and the abdomen are dorsally grey, with a tuft of black hairs standing between them. Their palps are a shade of red with brown extremities. Their legs are both red and dark brown. The upperside of the forewings of my individual has a black stripe going from one end of the wings to the other; a second black stripe can be seen just a little below the first's middle, inclining towards the first when reaching the edges. The whole upperside of the wings is painted in many zig-zag lines, spots (such as the spot near the anterior margin of the forewings) and more irregular spots can be seen near the anterior margin of the upperside of the forewings. The upperside of the hindwings is grey with tones reaching up to a hue of brown. Their eyes are very large and compound. The underside of the wings has a bean-like spot near the anterior margin of the forewings. The underside of the wings are greyish-red with multiple black lines running paralleled with the edges of the wings and regularly placed one above the other. The third black line of the forewing's underside gets thicker as it reaches the anterior margin.
Thysania zenobia is native to Eastern North America, Central America, and ranges South at least to the Southeastern-most Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is also found on the larger Caribbean Islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. It is also found on Bermuda and the Galapagos Islands. No records seem to exist in the West of Texas and in Hawaii.
They seem to migrate North in September and October, with some records showing that they migrate North as early as late June. (http://texasento.net/zenobia.htm)
Their Hodges Number is 8647 with a phylogenetic sequence of #930758.
The known host plants of Thysania zenobia's larvae are Senna sp. (Mill.) (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Cassieae: Cassiinae) ("senna") and Cassia sp. (L.) (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae: Cassieae: Cassiinae) ("cassia"). (https://bugguide.net/node/view/6017), more precisely these ones:
Senna bicapsularis (L.) Roxb.
Cassia ferruginea ((Schrader) Schrader ex DC.)
Cassia fistulosa (L. ex Long & Lakela)
Cassia imperialis (Hort.)
This is the larva of Thysania zenobia:
1 - http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/Wadults/resultsallphoto.lasso?photocode dotj=DHJ9576.j - Head and thorax dorsally.
2 - http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/Wadults/photopage.lasso?photocode dotj=DHJ9577.j - Lateral view of the body.
3 - http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/Wadults/resultsallphoto.lasso?photocode dotj=DHJ9580.j - Ventral view of the abdomen.
The last larval instar seems to have a length of approximately 68mm.
I could find no information on the adult's host plants.
You can find an interactive map to their distribution here: http://texasento.net/Zen_map.htm
Another source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thysania_zenobia
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thysania_zenobia
https://bugguide.net/node/view/156381 Animalia,Arthropoda,Brazil,Erebid moth,Erebidae,Erebinae,Geotagged,Insecta,Insects,Lepidoptera,Moth,Noctuoidea,Owl Moth,South America,Thermesiini,Thysania,Thysania zenobia,brazilian moths,heterocera,insect](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3305/62099_small.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1542240010&Signature=T8kOI0XgkPVt8UcIf8E%2FhUdXu94%3D)
Thysania zenobia - Mariposa-Coruja / Owl Moth / Owlet Moth (Cramer, 1776) -
Mania (ex: Nothus; Sematura) empedocles (Cramer, 1782) -
Stilpnochlora cf. couloniana (old instar nymph) - Giant Katydid / Esperança-Gigante (Saussure, 1861) -
Arvelius albopunctatus - Maria-Fedida-do-Tomate (De Geer, 1773) -
![Mictopsichia cf. hubneriana - Mictopsichia Moth (Stoll, 1787) Lepidoptera: Apoditrysia: Tortricoidea: Tortricidae: Tortricinae: New Tribe 3
Wingspan: ~20mm
Date: 15th of July, 2018 at 10:01:21am
Location: Brazil, Ceará, Itambé, Caucaia (Lat: 3.7145720415566794, Long: 38.6436581611905, Accuracy in meters: 152.5655732164612)
Mictopsichia is a genus of moth in the order Lepidoptera, subdivision Apoditrysia, superfamily Tortricoidea, family Tortricidae, subfamily Tortricinae and in a new tribe with no known name to me in which only the genus Mictopsichia is in.
Some entities still place them under the subfamily Chlidanotinae as can be seen in the sources further down. This classification is wrong.
Found in a national reserve open to visitors with plenty of wild vegetations.
This moth seems to be rare and I'm not going to suggest an accurate overall wingspan because the adults possess great size variations, with up to 2 - 3mm in difference. The subject portrayed measured around 20mm in wingspan and I have no way to confirm this. Synonyms to this moth include Phalaena (Tortrix) hubneriana (Stoll, in Cramer, 1791) and Mictopsichia hubnerana (Hübner, [1825]). So far, they are known to be distributed in Bolivia, Brazil, Panama (https://flic.kr/p/HDK9Hy) and Guyana. Type-species is Phalaena hubneriana (Stoll, 1787) and the current scientific name of this moth seems to be a tribute to Jacob Hübner.
I could find no more informations about this moth in the literature. The moth has short antennae with a clearly visible head and large compound eyes. The antennae are yellowish-orange. The entirety of the forewings and hindwings of the moth is iridescent, glimmering and colorful, presenting shades of yellow, orange, brown, red, black and, perhaps, blue. Patterns are complex and hard to describe.
Their distribution status in Brazil is: Recife, Pernambuco; Caseara, Tocantins; Ceará, Itambé, Caucaia. This distribution status is most likely lacking.
Recife, Pernambuco specimen: https://www.flickr.com/photos/douglashamelo/15435880311
Caseara, Tocantins specimen: http://borboletaskmariposas.blogspot.com/2014/08/mictopsichia-hubneriana-stoll-1787.html?spref=pi
The Ceará specimen is the subject portrayed.
I could also find these specimens in iNaturalist:
https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/706600-Mictopsichia-hubneriana/browse_photos
Chlidonatinae as subfamily, a wrong classification due to the informal source and the existence of more reliable sources available listing them under a new tribe in Tortricinae: https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mictopsichia_pentargyra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mictopsichia_hubneriana
http://eol.org/pages/950478/overview Animalia,Arthropoda,Arthropods,Brazil,Geotagged,Insecta,Insects,Lepidoptera,Mictopsichia,Mictopsichia hubneriana,Moth,New Tribe 3,Tortricidae,Tortricinae,Tortricoidea,animal,animals,arthropod,brazilian moths,heterocera](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/3305/67199_small.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1542240010&Signature=suuQFBfTqO7CIPq2JCZsU8iW1kQ%3D)
Mictopsichia cf. hubneriana - Mictopsichia Moth (Stoll, 1787) -
Drosera burmannii - Burmese Sundew / Tropical Sundew / Drosera Tropical (Vahl) -
Giant Silkworm Moth Caterpillar (Lonomia obliqua) -
Loxa cf. viridis - Loxa Stinkbug (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805, according to some places, while in others, Palisot, 1811) -
Phiale sp. - Phiale Jumping Spider (C.L. Koch, 1846) -
Guira Cuckoo -
Xystus sanguinicollis - Flower Weevil (Germar, 1824) -
cf. Uloborus sp. - Tecelã-Orbicular-Cribelada / Cribellate Orb Weaver / Hackled-band Orb Weaver (Latreille, 1806) -
Jaguar with cubs in the Pantanal -
Dycladia sp. - Dycladia Moth (Felder, 1874) -
Metaphidippus albopilosus - Metaphidippus Jumping Spider / Aranha-Saltadora-Metaphidippus (Elizabeth Maria Gifford Peckham & George William Peckham, 1901) -
Ricolla cf. quadrispinosa - Percevejo-Assassino-Ricolla (Linnaeus, 1767) -
Fluvicola nengeta nengeta - Lavadeira-Mascarada / Noivinha / Masked Water-Tyrant... (Linnaeus, 1766) -
Orange-fronted Yellow Finch -
Lissachatina fulica (ex: Achatina fulica) - Giant African Snail / Caracol-Gigante-Africano (Férussac, 1821)