Xylophanes thyelia courtesy of Paolo Mazzei,
Rancho Grande, H. Pittier National Park, Venezuela.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839 Tribe: Macroglossini, Harris, 1839 Genus: Xylophanes Hubner [1819] ........... Species: thyelia Linnaeus, 1758

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DISTRIBUTION:

Xylophanes thyelia moths [wingspan 53-54 mm] fly from Guatemala to Peru (South America is given as the specimen type locality.) and further south into
Bolivia: Santa Cruz: Ichilo, Parque Nacional Amboró, Río Saguayo; La Víbora; Guarayos, Perseverancia; La Paz: Murillo, Río Zongo, (750m);
Argentina: Misiones: Iguazu;
(possibly Paraguay: (Itapua (WO??)).

Chaerocampa eson Walker, 1856, [South America], is the same as Xylophanes thyelia thyelia.

The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

Jean Marie Cadiou writes, "When I say "Xylophanes" in English I pronounce it something like "Zailophanees", with the emphasis on the "o". The French pronounce it differently, something like "Kzeelophaness" with no emphasis, and the Germans yet in a different way..."

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

In Greek myth, Phanes is the golden winged Primordial Being who was hatched from the shining Cosmic Egg that was the source of the universe. He personifies light emerging from chaos.

"Xylo" is the Greek word for wood.

The specimen type for the genus Xylophanes is Xylophanes anubus. Perhaps ? when Hubner examined that species, the yellow-orange and brown tones of the forewings suggested wings of wood.

"Thyelia" MIGHT be from Thalia (Thaleia) the "Flourishing", who is the Greek muse of comedy and of playful and idyllic poetry, and is seen with a comic mask. She is sometimes seen with a crown of ivy and a crook. POSSIBLY the dark upper half of the forewings, with the lighter region around the cell, reminded Linnaeus of a mask with eyespots.

Xylophanes thyelia male courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Xylophanes thyelia adults fly continuously in Costa Rica. In Bolivia there are records for March, October, December.

ECLOSION:

Pupae probably wiggle to surface from subterranean chambers or leaf litter just prior to eclosion.

Xylophanes thyelia female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen. Males come in to lights very readily, but females are seldom taken in that way.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

The snake-like larva has a head and the three thoracic segments which may be retracted into abdominal segment 1, which is swollen and adorned with a pair of light-ringed grey eye-spots.

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