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BillOehlke Stinging Lichen Moth
Stinging Lichen Moth commented on by BillOehlke Parroquia Salango, Provincia de Manabí, Ecuador8 years ago

I am pretty sure the moth is Dirphiopsis flora. The other suggestion of Dirphiopsis trisignata is usually for a moth much further east in South America. I do not think that trisignata is found on western side of Andes.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Paradirphia moth
Paradirphia moth commented on by BillOehlke Orizaba, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Mexico8 years ago

Paradirphia semirosea

BillOehlke Paradirphia moth
Paradirphia moth commented on by BillOehlke Orizaba, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Mexico8 years ago

I request permission to post image, credited to the photographer to my semirosea page
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Buck Moth
Buck Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

I am pretty sure the second image is a male Paradirphia semirosea and the fourth image is a female Paradirphia semirosea. Both have (in your images) extremely heavily marked am and pm white lines. I also note in the second image, where we can see the hind wings, that there are shitish areas on the veins at the intersection with the median band. I have not seen this on any Paradirphia that have been described. It is possible that both of these moths, images 2 and 4, are of undescribed species.
Bill Oehlke
PS I am hoping you can get more images of these moths and can show images of moths with wings spread and also the undersides as you have done with many of the other species. very nice pictures.

BillOehlke Buck Moth
Buck Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

I am pretty sure the fourth image in the string is Paradirphia semirosea or something as yet undescribed, but closely related to semirosea.
The very heavy white am and pm lines are perhaps an aberration or an unusual variation, and the proximity of the lines to each other where they meet the inner margin is perhaps a result of the thick white banding.
It is not a perfect match for semirosea or any other known species, based on the traits indicated above.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Automeris Moth
Automeris Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

I am pretty sure that A. oaxacensis is more of a lower elevation Pacific Coast species with significantly smaller hindwing ocelli. It is not yet known from such high altitude. Closely related species with larger hindwing ocelli
are A. excreta and A. tridens. Tridens is also generally regarded as a lower elevation species while excreta is a montane species. Given your elevation at 2200m, I would go with Automeris excreta, but it might even be something undescribed. It might also be Automeris rubrescens which was recently removed from synonymity with tridens, but seems restricted to Pacific side. I still favour excreta, however, due mostly to the elevation. If you get an view of the underside of the hindwings there is at least one character there that can be used to distinguish oaxacensis from tridens and possibly from excreta.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Buck Moth
Buck Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

When you took this picture (first one in sequence) in 2009, this species had not been described.
In 2010, Brechlin and Meister named and described Paradirphia frankae from San Cristobal and that is what you have at least in the first image in the strip. I still have to do some more work to determine the others. It is also possibly that you have as many as four different species here, maybe even five as the third image could contain two different species.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Buck Moth
Buck Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

When you took this picture (third one in sequence) in 2009, this species had not been described.
In 2010, Brechlin and Meister named and described Paradirphia leoni from San Cristobal and that is what you have at least in the (top) third image in the strip (possible the lower, darker moth is something else). I still have to do some more work to determine the others. It is also possibly that you have as many as four different species here. I will try to sift through them in the next couple of hours as I update my own files. Quite a few new Paradirphia names were put forth in 2010 from southern Mexico.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Leucanella Silk Moth
Leucanella Silk Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

This one is Leucanella contempt windi.
Bill Oehlke

BillOehlke Orizaba Silk Moth
Orizaba Silk Moth commented on by BillOehlke Chiapas, Mexico9 years ago

I am pretty sure this is not a lebeau subspecies. It is a female Rothschildia roxana or Rothschildia orizaba. The elevation is more indicative of orizaba
but colouration is closer to roxana. I think I would have to go with a tentative orizaba.
Bill Oehlke

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