InsectNet forum

Strange that there is a genus Castnia and another Castnius, confusing.

Adam.

Yes Adam, very confusing! Castnia was coined by Fabricius in 1807, Hübner must have known this when he described Castnius in [1819]. However, it's still valid.

Stunning drawer Bob. Some of them seem to mimic butterflies on the genus Asterope or Eumaeus

bobw wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:08 am Yes Adam, very confusing! Castnia was coined by Fabricius in 1807, Hübner must have known this when he described Castnius in [1819]. However, it's still valid.

Yes, a two letter difference means they are not homonyms, even if the difference is only the ending.

Adam.

daveuk wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:56 pm Stunning drawer Bob. Some of them seem to mimic butterflies on the genus Asterope or Eumaeus

Indeed! Those are the females of Castnius asteropoides, an apt name, and the previous name, which was unpublished, was Castnius eumaeus. However, it almost certainly doesn't belong in that genus.

Thierry Porion from France has an extremely nice collection of Castniidae which I saw the other day
I haven't posted picture on forum for such a long, that I can not figure out how to do it ... Hard to get older every day

A+, Michel

Dear Michel,

Good to see you here. I would love to see these pictures.
To attach pictures in your posts, see here : viewtopic.php?t=4

It is very easy, you will see

A new paper on a couple more castniid genera has just been published (details below). If anyone would like a pdf of the full paper (which is pretty big) please pm me.

Worthy, Bob, Gonzalez, Jorge & Zilli, Alberto. (2022). A review of the genera Amauta Houlbert, 1918 and Divana J.Y. Miller, 1982 (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) with description of a new genus. Zootaxa. 5194. 301-342. 10.11646/zootaxa.5194.3.1.

Abstract: The genera Amauta Houlbert, 1918 and Divana J.Y. Miller, 1982 are revised, with discussion of diagnostic features of males and females of all taxa. Details on their nomenclatural history, biogeography, and biology are included to solve several nomenclatural issues. Lectotypes are designated for Castnia (Amauta) papilionaris affinis Rothschild, 1919 and Castnia tricolor C. Felder & R. Felder, 1874. The status of the following taxa is revised: Amauta procera (Boisduval, [1875]) stat. rest., Amauta angusta (H. Druce, 1907) stat. rest., Castnia ambatensis Houlbert, 1917 syn. nov. of Castnia papilionaris papilionaris Walker, [1865], Castnia velutina Houlbert, 1917 syn. nov. of Castnia papilionaris papilionaris Walker, [1865], and Castnia diva chiriquiensis Strand, 1913 syn. nov. of Castnia diva diva Butler, 1870. Other taxa are revised, and their taxonomic status clarified. A new genus Vadina gen. nov. is proposed for Castnia hodeei Oberthür, 1881, which is removed (comb. nov.) from Telchin Hübner, [1825], whilst Amauta stat. rest. and Divana stat. rest., subsumed into Telchin in the most recent revision of the family, are herein reinstated as valid genera.

Below are my drawers of these genera, which was part of the material used to produce the new paper (above), Sorry about the picture quality but they were just quick snaps with my mobile:

daveuk wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:56 pm Stunning drawer Bob. Some of them seem to mimic butterflies on the genus Asterope or Eumaeus

Jackie Miller at the McGuire Center has referred to Castniids as "honorary butterflies".

jh

They are sometimes known as "Giant butterfly moths". Some are very colourful and they do have clubbed antennae.

bobw wrote: Sat Oct 08, 2022 1:30 pm They are sometimes known as "Giant butterfly moths". Some are very colourful and they do have clubbed antennae.

It's worth noting that the males also behave much like butterflies. The perch along open trails and roadsides, and fly up and down the path, presumably looking for mating opportunities and chasing away other males. They are super fast! Here's one in Belize on its perch.

Panacanthus wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:28 am The following are a Pair of (Castnia daedelus) - which, thanks to bobw, we now know are actually (most likely) Eupalamides cyparissias. I don't have images of the undersides for a positive id. These are large moths - the female was huge.

Here is a shot showing just how "huge" the female really is. This was a drawer of recently spread bugs in the University of Parana collection in Curitiba, Brazil, that gives a solid feel for the scale of the female. The size of the bug amazed me - and is the only reason I took this photo.

John

John

The living specimen in your photo is a male of Telchin atymnius futilis.

bobw wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 5:40 pm John

The living specimen in your photo is a male of Telchin atymnius futilis.

Thanks - I figure that this is a pretty common species - right? We see them here and there along 2-track roads in beat up forested areas. Over the years, I figure I've seen three or four species in Belize - the others are much more uncommon. Any that I collected have been long since traded away for skippers!

John

Yes, it's certainly the most common species in most Central American countries.

Very common species in French Guiana too.

wollastoni wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 10:39 am Very common species in French Guiana too.

Olivier

I believe that T. atymnius is actually very rare in French Guiana. The species that is very common there, as it is throughout most of South America, is T. licus.

Oops, you must be right !

PS : nice avatar !

@bobw I alwas thought castniidae have more collectors focused on them, since I often see some really expensive 500-800 eur per specimen castniidae on ebay or some German sellers website. How come some species are so expensive if they are not collected that often?