On the Larval Forms of Several Exotic Ceratocampid Moths
International Journal of
BY A. S. PACKARI>
PRUYIDENL'E
R. I.
-
The lanae here d escribed are of
moths hereto fore re fe rr ed t o the family
S<1turniidae. They are however mem
bers of quite ano th e r group, a great
family or superfamily of which the
Ceratoca mpidae o f th e olde r authors
(Citheroniidae) Agliinae and perh aps
four or fiv e other groups are co mpo
nents. F or example. Nudaurelia, of
which there are about twenty species,
and which were confounded with Anth
eraea, until separated by Rothschild. is,
though an African genus, hot h in its
imaginal and larval char acte rs al li ed to
our American Ceratoca mpids. Th is is
also the case with Gynanis,r in:,·, and
Cru!a sinope. I might also add that
after a prolonged study of the \'en at ion
and other ch.uacters, besides what little
we know of the larval hi stories, I ha\·e
come to the conclusion that many other
genera heretofo re refer red to th e Saturn
iidae, will have to h e remov ed from that
fa mily, and placed in this group. :\p
p:ue ntly non e of these genera are spin
ners but, like Citheronia, Eacles, .\ni
sota, Sphingicampa, etc., enter the ea rth
to finish t heir transformations, and spin
n o cocoon.
T he group as we are now disposed to
limit it is di\·icled into about six sub
Lunil ies, an d comprises about thirty fi\·e
genera. including the fi\'e genera (Sr>·
spln'nx, Spltingic,rmj<l, A ni.wfcl, EaJ, .,· .rnd
Citlttronia) usually referred to the ( 'er;l
tocampidae. The Eurasian genus .·l.(iicr
is a typ e of the subfamily .rl.rlilit ,,., .rnd
does not belong with the Saturniidae.
though universally referred to that family ,
but falls into the group under consider
ation. The foll"wing genera with the
s ix provi-;ional groups referred to, by
their imag!n .1l ch,Jracters, i.e. the \'<·rn
tion, antt•nn:Je, etc., as ll'ell as \I'ILlt 11e
knuw o[ their tr.lnsfonuations, sh"uld IH'
t.tken out of the S,rturniiclae ancl .'~;,oci
ated \\'ith the C::ratuca mpidae ( r 'lther
o,Jii,!J
_·):
I-;~ ides ( r) t ,,, <:itheroniidae. there is
-· ' ~,-,.,. rPjll·esentecJ by :\ I icratta
cus. Lt.~L. J~u ,_J_. ·j 1. anr: ..; 1gana.
3· A group ( A~liin:w) represented
by .\r;,enura. Rhescyntis, Agli~1. Cer
cophana. ('irina, and Psta, with a side
genus l'olythysana.
4· A group comprising Dysdaemon ia
an d Copiopteryx, and perha ps Ti taea
~wd Loxolomia.
[December, HjOI
5· A group represented by Eudaemo
nia, Urota, Eudelia; and finally (6) a
group containing the following genera,
Bunaea, Imbrasia, Gynanisa, Salassa,
Nudaurelia, Antherina, l\Ielanocera, and
Cinabra, with two undescribed genera,
one represented by Btmtu•a phat"dusa and
another by Nut/aurelia /Je/ina.
It will be a matter of interest to con
sider the geographical distribution of
this great group, now comprising some
thirty-six (probably forty) genera.
All but two genera (Aglia and Salassa)
the former Eurasian, the latter Asiatic, are
either Neogaeic (Central and South
American) or Ethiopian (Equatorial and
South African). Of these thirty-four
(perhaps 36-38) genera, seventeen are
African, and about the same number (Is
I6, perhaps IS) are South American.
This fact in the distribution of the group
is of interest in connection with the re
lations between the South American and
African flora and fauna, of which so
much has recently been written, confirm
ing the view that perhaps at the close
of the cretaceous period and through the
early tertiary there may have been a land
connection between the two continents.
There are about thirty genera of Sat
urniidae; of these we know the larval
forms of seventeen genera. But of the
larger group in question we know the
larval stages of but thirteen genera and
that very imperfectly. Besides the larva
of a single species of Nuclaurelia, of
Gynanisa and of Urota, we know only
that of Th;,dla zam/luia roughly figured
by Maassen and \\'eymer, of Bunaca
a!{_1'1/0c briefly described by Auri villi us, that
of the Eurasian Aglia and the South
American forms Cercophana, Rhescyntis,
Arsenura, and the Ceratocampid genera
Syssphinx, Sphingicampa, Anisota, Eades
and Citheronia, or thirteen genera.
In this great family whose larvae are
so sphinx-like in general shape, in the
form of the anal legs, head, and other
features, besides the pupa and subterra
nean habits the name Sphingicampidae
may be suggested. The name Cerato
campidae might be used in an extended
sense but by the present rules its use is
unfortunately forbidden.
NunAURELIA DIONE (Fabr.).
Larz•a.- 1-Iead as in Gynanisa isis. large,
smooth, but dull black, ,hining but a little.
and seen to be finely granulated under a lens,
the granulations grouped in lines. Ilead a
Iittle more than one-half as thick as the body,
which i> eylindrical, not quite so thick as in
Gynanisa. The body is uniformly dull vel·
,·ety black, except the groups of yellow warts.
Prothoracic shield black, roughly corrugated
tranS\'ersely, \\·ith no spines. but a simple
pale dorsal hair on each side.
Second thoracic s (...truncated)