Castniidae

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Trehopr1
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Castniidae

Post by Trehopr1 »

I don't normally encounter very many Castniidae
in private collections but, when I do see them I
at least get a picture.

So, here's a couple specimens which I recently
ran across and had been purchased by a friend.

If you know something about these then please
tell us....

Image

Image
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Panacanthus
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

Those are Castnia psittachus from Chile. Outstanding species, as are so many from this group! This is actually one of the more readily available species on the market and has been for many years.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

Panacanthus is correct in his identification except that "psittacus" (note spelling) is an invalid name, the valid name for the species, which is a Chilean endemic, is Castnia eudesmia. Although many species are mentioned under the genus Castnia, it only comprises a small group of between 3 and 7 species, the rest are now in different genera. I am currently working on a revision of the genus which should finally sort out the mess.

I have a large collection of Castniinae. probably the largest private collection in the world, although I'm missing about 15 - 20 species. They are a very poorly known group and I'm working on a project to revise them genus by genus, I've just submitted the 3rd paper in the series for publication and am working on several more. If anyone's interested in seeing photos, whether of complete drawers or individual specimens please let me know.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

VERY interesting bobw! I was hesitant as to whether the “h” belonged in there, as it is often, but not always, written with it included, but I had no idea the name was now invalid. It is the first time I’ve seen it called C. eudesmia! Great information.

As for seeing complete drawers or individual specimens, that would be wonderful! Although I have only a small collection of Castnia, they’ve always been a top favorite, and I’m sure many others would love to see them as well.
“Seems to me the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” -David Attenborough
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

The name psittacus Molina, 1782 was invalidated by the many deficiencies, inconsistencies, misrepresentations and misinterpretations in and of the original description. The oldest name available for the taxon is Castnia eudesmia Gray, 1838.

C. eudesmia is the only castniid occurring in Chile; funnily enough, the name psittacus should actually be applied to the only papilionid occurring in Chile - Battus polydamas archidamas.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by adamcotton »

Indeed, psittacus (Molina, 1782) is the valid name for the Chilean Battus.

Adam.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Trehopr1 »

Here are a few other select species which I have run across
over these last 5 years. A couple belong to collectors I know
whilst the other three went up for sale in collections being
parted out.

In a way, I like these (which is why I get photo's) but, I don't
collect them as I already have enough varied interests and
my cash only goes so far !

You will have to excuse some of the picture quality as
each photo opportunity presented differing light conditions.
However, I have tried to select my best pic's involving
each circumstance.

Image
Athis staudingeri (female)
Costa Rica, Osa, Jan.2014

Image
Athis clitarcha or inca (male)
Costa Rica, Golfito, July 2009

Image
Athis inca inca (male)
Mexico, Vera Cruz, July 1978

Image
Eupalamides sp.
Sept.1985

So, the names given are what was on the specimens
labels at the time. These may have changed since
then. At least, all had reasonable data so as to know
where and when collected.

**Genus corrections courtesy of bobw 😎👏
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

The top specimen is Athis staudingeri, although it's currently considered to be a subspecies of A. palatinus. The second looks more like Athis inca, although inca and clitarcha are very difficult to tell apart, this is the subject of ongoing investigation, it's a male, not a female. The third is a male of Athis inca inca. The bottom one is Eupalamides cyparissias, or possibly E. guyanensis, it's only possible to be sure from a close up of the underside, daedalus is a homonym. None of them are in the genus Castnia, although they were originally described that way.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Trehopr1 »

Thank you bob for your expertice !

I will make genus corrections shortly to
my posting. Unfortunately, no underside
shots were taken of any so I won't know
which species the last photo represents.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

I've looked through old photos and found a few which are worth posting. Nothing really rare, but some beautiful specimens. I sold these a few years back and cannot remember the names (which would be wrong now anyways lol!!), so perhaps bobw will wish to identify them for us!

Recto and verso of same specimen
castnia1.jpg
castnia1.jpg (708.63 KiB) Viewed 1650 times


Recto and verso of same specimen
Castnia 2.jpg
Castnia 2.jpg (634.25 KiB) Viewed 1650 times

Recto and verso - this was sold to me as Castnia papilionaris - this specimen was very large
Castnia papilionaris.jpg
Castnia papilionaris.jpg (606.18 KiB) Viewed 1650 times
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

Wasn't able to add more than 3 images in the last post so posting again!

As before, I don't remember the name...
Castnia 3.jpg
Castnia 3.jpg (579.34 KiB) Viewed 1649 times
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

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.

I am posting some photos which will fully reveal just how deceptive the colors of these moths can be. You may look at the first photo and think they are rather drab. Decent patterns on the female, but obviously not much color. Well, that would be wrong! Continue on to see just how amazingly they come to life with the proper angle of light. There is no photoshop trickery here. Just photos taken from the proper angle, with a small flashlight shining the light onto them from the proper direction. The colors also change and vary depending on slight variations in the light angle. All of the additional photos are of the female.

I still cannot add more than three photos to each post (not sure if this is normal) so these will be shown in several posts.
Castnia daedelus Pair.jpg
Castnia daedelus Pair.jpg (567.8 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
angle3.jpg
angle3.jpg (611.81 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
angle2.jpg
angle2.jpg (745.05 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
Last edited by Panacanthus on Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:37 am, edited 3 times in total.
“Seems to me the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” -David Attenborough
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

angle4.jpg
angle4.jpg (782.36 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
angle5.jpg
angle5.jpg (692.83 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
angle6.jpg
angle6.jpg (715.1 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
“Seems to me the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” -David Attenborough
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Panacanthus »

angle7.jpg
angle7.jpg (569.61 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
This photo was taken without the hand held flashlight, so you can see that the angle from which the wing is viewed means nothing without the light source also coming from the proper direction.
angle1.jpg
angle1.jpg (542.1 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
“Seems to me the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” -David Attenborough
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

In Panacanthus's 1st post the top specimen is a male Telchin evalthe, probably ssp. evalthoides from Peru; the 2nd one is a male Imara satrapes from south-east Brazil; and the bottom one is a female Amauta p. papilionaris, probably from Peru or Ecuador. In the following post is a male Telchin licus, this is easily the commonest castniid and is found throughout most of South America with little variation. In some areas it is a major pest of sugar cane crops.

Many different castniids have green, blue or purple reflections as shown in his photos of E. cyparissias, which is indeed a giant. Unfortunately, these reflections, and indeed the main wing colours, are often obscured as they're very prone to greasing.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

As some people requested more photos, I'm attaching a drawer from my collection. This is the genus Haemonides, which is the first genus we revised. If anyone would like a copy of our 2017 paper on the genus, please send me a PM. If there is any appetite for it, I can post more photos. Please excuse the poor photo quality but it was taken with a mobile phone. Three of the four species are represented (H. emiliae is only known from Belem, Para, Brazil), my series of the small one on the right - H. candida represents half of the known specimens, and the male is still unknown:
RW Haemonides.jpg
RW Haemonides.jpg (742.06 KiB) Viewed 1589 times
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Re: Castniidae

Post by joachim »

The castnia are often underestimated in terms of briliance
and coloration. Thanks for the great pictures!
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Chuck »

I love these dedicated focus efforts on particular families and genera. I'll never have time in my life to focus on Castniidae (for example) so to see the variation is amazing. Thanks.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by Trehopr1 »

Indeed, bobw it would be very nice to see any additional photos of your marvelous holdings !

Very few people seem to collect these (or at least any number of them) so each posting you are able to muster will peak interest in this altogether overlooked family.
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Re: Castniidae

Post by bobw »

As people seem to want to see them, here is another drawer, again, apologies for the poor picture quality. this one contains some overflow from Xanthocastnia plus Geyeria, Insigniocastnia and Castnius. All species are represented so there aren't many species in the genera and some, e.g. G. strigata and C. marcus seem to be very rare:
RW Geyeria etc.jpg
RW Geyeria etc.jpg (604.03 KiB) Viewed 1529 times
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