Hypercompe obscura Dognin
Description. Larva robust; head uniformly shiny dark brown to black; body ground color dark brown with a pale gray wash giving it a frosted appearance, T1 and abdominal spiracles bone-colored; body with reddish brown, moderately dense, mid-length, stiff setae arising from shiny gray verrucae, thorax, sides, and posterior segments additionally with a few sparse, long, soft, pale setae emanating from subdorsal and lateral verrucae; thoracic legs black; prolegs matching body color with gray pads.
Common name for caterpillar morphospecies:
“Negro espin”
“Puerco espin café”
“Arctiid café tres linias blancas brochas amarillas”
“Verde linea blanca cherche”
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 Hypercompe obscura Schaus is Peru.
Caterpillars of this species have been reared at Yanayacu Biological Station (Napo, Ecuador). Host plants include:
Adenostemma harlingii King&Robinson, Barnadesia parviflora Spruce ex Bentham & Hooker and Dendrophorbium lloense (Asteraceae)
Browallia speciosa Hooker and Solanum sp. (Solanaceae).
Reared YBS vouchers #:35202, 35661, 38677, 39487, 39610, 55229
All reared adult specimens are deposited @ AMNH (except 55229)
Identification of reared adults:
The following were dissected by S. Rab Green:
Reared ♂ # 35661 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #190
Collected (YY) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #143
Location: Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station (YY), S 00º35.9’ W77 º53.4, 2200m.
Status: Dissections were compared with ♂ Lectotype No.11122 U.S.N.M.; Turuptiana obscura Schaus type. Lectotype ♂ Turuptiana obscura Schaus by A. Watson, 1967. Genitalia slide AW490.
Result: Our dissected specimens were identical with compared type.
Original description:
Schaus, W. 1901. Descriptions of some new species of Heterocera. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7(7): 268.
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