SUBFAMILY HEMILEUCINAE: GENERA EUDYARIA AND HELICONISA
The two genera on this page are medium-sized, butterfly-like, day-flying moths. They do not come to lights and so there are few records. The two species of Eudyaria are quite distinct and unlikely to be confused. One species sigridae was described in 2009 by Mielke & Drechsel and named after Ulf´s daughter Sigrid. The specimen had originally been found in a spiders web, with another specimen later found in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural by Paul Smith and Sergio Rios. Heliconisa  is a monotypic genus with very similar habits to Eudyaria but which shows strong sexual dimorphism. It is included here because of the similarity of the male to Eudyaria venata. Note that males of Heliconisa also bear a close resemblance to certain Ithomisa sp. There is only one record of Heliconisa from Paraguay, a female found in PN San Rafael by Paul Smith in April 2010 and pictured here.
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Gallery 2 Eudyaria venata
Distribution - Itapúa
Host Plants - Bromelia, Eryngium (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - males 84-97mm, females 104-108mm (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site).
FIGURE 2a -
Eudyaria venata male - PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Karina Atkinson December 2008).
FIGURE 2b -
Eudyaria venata female - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).
FIGURE 2a

FIGURE 2a

FIGURE 2b

FIGURE 2b

Thanks to Bill Oehlke and Ulf Drechsel for assistance with Emperor Moth identification.
Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on the page were provided by Paul Smith and Karina Atkinson and are used with permission.
Special thanks to Ulf Drechsel for permission to use images from his site www.pybio.org.
Ulf is "el capo" of Saturniids in Paraguay and anybody with an interest in this group should check out his web page for additional information.
Thanks to Bill Oehlke and Ulf Drechsel for assistance with Emperor Moth identification.
Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on the page were provided by Paul Smith and Ulf Drechsel and are used with permission.
Special thanks to Ulf Drechsel for permission to use images from his site www.pybio.org.
Ulf is "el capo" of Saturniids in Paraguay and anybody with an interest in this group should check out his web page for additional information.
FIGURE 1a

FIGURE 1a

Gallery 1 Eudyaria sigridae
Distribution - Canindeyú - newly described species endemic to Paraguay (www.pybio.org).
Host Plants - no information.
Wingspan - no information.
FIGURE 1a - Eudyaria sigridae
- Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, San Lorenzo (Paul Smith August 2009).

Gallery 3 Heliconisa pagenstecheri
Distribution - Itapúa - this specimen represents the first and only record for Paraguay.
Host Plants - grasses (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site). Cortaderia, Eryngium (Pastrana 2004).
Wingspan - males 75-93mm, females 68-86mm (Oehlke World´s Largest Saturniidae Site).
FIGURE 3a -
Heliconisa pagenstecheri female - PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith April 2010).
FIGURE 3b -
Heliconisa pagenstecheri female - PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith April 2010).
FIGURE 3c - Heliconisa pagenstecheri female - PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith April 2010).
FIGURE 3d - Heliconisa pagenstecheri female - PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith April 2010).
FIGURE 3a

FIGURE 3a

FIGURE 3b

FIGURE 3b

FIGURE 3c

FIGURE 3c

FIGURE 3d

FIGURE 3d