Amastus thermidora Dognin
Description. Larva robust; head uniformly reddish brown with paler areas epicranially and around ecdysial suture; body ground dull gray-brown with indistinct cream-colored and black markings dorsally and latero-ventrally, most prominent on thorax and terminal abdominal segments, dorsum of A10 black, spiracles bright crimson but mostly obscured by setae; body with moderately dense, short, stiff setae, reddish brown at bases, dark centrally on shaft, and with redbrown tips, dorsal verrucae bearing additional dense tufts of shorter, soft, red-brown setae giving dorsum a fuzzy appearance, whereas rest of body appears spiny, thorax with a few long, soft, red-brown setae; thoracic legs black; prolegs matching body ground color with darker pads.
Common name for caterpillar morphospecies:
“hh arctiid”
“hh arctiid cola negra”
Natural History: The larvae of this species are solitary feeders.
Caterpillars were collected in Napo Province, Ecuador (Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creative Studies: at various sites).
Type Locality of Amastus thermidora Dognin is Loja, Ecuador.
Caterpillars of this species have been reared at Yanayacu Biological Station (Napo, Ecuador) and have been recorded feeding on Weinmania balbisiana (Cunoniaceae), Sapium sp (Euphorbiaceae) and Tibouchina lepidota (Melastomataceae).
Reared YBS vouchers #: 31188, 32365, 36190
All reared adult specimens are deposited @ AMNH
Identification of reared adults:
The following were dissected by S. Rab Green:
Reared ♀ #36190 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #137
Collected (YY) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #104
Location: Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station (YY), S 00º35.9’ W77 º53.4, 2200m.
Status: Dissections were compared with ♀ Holotype No.30404 U.S.N.M.; Amastus thermidora Dognin type. Holotype ♀ Amastus thermidora Dognin by A. Watson, 1967. Genitalia slide AW544.
Result: Our dissected specimens were identical with compared type.
Original description:
Dognin, P. 1913. Hétérocères nouveaux de l’Amérique du Sud. Mémoires de la
Société Entomologique de Belgique 22: 4.
Reference
Rab Green, S.B., G.L. Gentry, H.F. Greeney, L.A. Dyer. 2011 Ecology, Natural History, and Larval Descriptions of Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae) from a Cloud Forest in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 104(6):1135-1148. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN10165