Symphlebia palmeri Rothschild
Description. Larva robust; head uniformly shining black; body ground color velvety dark purple dorsally, velvety black laterally; dorsum bearing indistinct white lines crossing the body near intersegmental areas, spiracles small, bright white; body with scattered mid-length, soft, white, slightly plumose setae, sparsest on thorax and posterior segments, which include similar but longer setae mixed in; dorsum with sparse, long, soft, slightly plumose gray setae, several longer setae posteriorly and anteriorly; segments T2-A8 bearing two to four dense tufts of short, soft, deep orange setae creating a nearly uniform covering across dorsum when larvae are at rest, but are more obviously broken into tufts during movement; thoracic legs black; prolegs dark purple with pale pads.
Common name for caterpillar morphospecies:
“Ojos grandes naranja esponja”
”Ojos grandes naranja sierra azul”
“Brochas cafes puntas blancas”
The larvae of this species feed and rest in groups.
Caterpillars were collected in Napo Province, Ecuador (Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creative Studies: at various sites).
Type Locality of Symphlebia palmeri Rothschild is San Antonio, western Colombia.
Caterpillars of this species have been reared at Yanayacu Biological Station (Napo, Ecuador). Known host plants:
Gunnera sp.(Gunneraceae)
Tibouchina lepiota Aublet and Miconia sp. (Melastomataceae)
Unknown species Asteraceae
Reared YBS vouchers #: 10756, 10757, 10758, 15489, 15490, 15491, 15492, 15493, 15494, 15495, 15496, 15497, 15498, 15499, 15500, 39560, 42623, 42624, 42625, 42626, 42627, 42628, 42629, 42630, 42631, 42632, 42633, 42634, 42635, 42636, 42637, 42638, 42639, 42640, 42641, 42642, 42643, 42644, 42645, 42646, 42647, 42648, 42649, 42650, 42651, 42652
Reared adult specimens with voucher numbers in “bold” are deposited @ AMNH.
Voucher numbers 10758, 15489, 15496 are located at UNR.
Identification of reared adults:
Dissections: Specimens dissected by S. Rab Green:
Reared ♀ # 10756 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #105
Reared ♂ # 42649 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #177
Reared ♂ # 42631 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #178
Reared ♂ # 42648 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #179
Reared ♂ # 39560 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #174
Reared ♂ # 42649 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #177
Reared ♂ # 42624 located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #175
Collected (San Rafael) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #183
Collected (San Rafael) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #157
Collected (Napo) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #150
Collected (Napo) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #151
Collected (Napo) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #152
Collected (Napo) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #155
Collected (YY) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #154
Collected (YY) ♂ located @ AMNH, genitalia slide SRG #176
Location: Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station (YY), S 00º35.9’ W77 º53.4, 2200m.
Status: Compared with type collection at BMNH, general collections at AMNH, MNHN and USNM. Since the Holotype at BMNH is not dissected, our specimen could only be identified by comparing to pinned type specimen. No previous dissections by authors or subsequent taxonomists.
Adults are sexually dimorphic.
Original description: Rothschild, L. W. 1910. Catalogue of the Arctianae in the Tring Museum, with notes and descriptions of new species. Novitates Zoologicae 17: 9.
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