Nyceryx brevis
Nyceryx brevis
Becker, 2001
Nyceryx brevis, approx. 45mm, Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, courtesy/copyright of Jean Haxaire;
CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62625606.
This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.
TAXONOMY:
Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839
Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878
Genus: Nyceryx Boisduval, [1875] ...........
Species: janzeni Haxaire, 2005
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DISTRIBUTION:
Nyceryx brevis
(approximate wingspan: mm // fwl: 20-22mm) flies in cerrado habitat in
Brazil: HT Bahia: Morro do Chapeu, 1400 m, 23-24.IV.1991; Minas Gerais, Serra do Cipo and Belo Horizonte, [Retiro das Pedras], 1300 m.
This species if similar to continua continua but N. brevis is much smaller, and perhaps that is why it was named brevis.
I suspect it also flies in cerrado biome in Pernambuco, Piaui and Tocantins, but have no confirmed reports for those states. Haxaire & Mielke, 2019, suggest it
may be limited to Minas Gerais and Bahia.
FLIGHT TIMES:
Moths are probably on the wing in just about every month with confirmed reports for January and April. However, in drier habitatit may be
limited to rainier season.
ECLOSION:
Adults eclose, usually within three to five weeks from pupation date.
SCENTING AND MATING:
Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen.
Females are active just after midnight with males beginning night flight around 1:00 am.
EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:
Larvae possibly feed on Pentagonia donnell-smithii, and Chimarrhis parviflora, but neither food plant has been
confirmed. Inga species should also be explored.
Isuspect the species name, fernandezi, is honourific for Fernandez.
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