Ceretes thais (Drury, 1782)

Ríos, Sergio D. & González, Jorge M., 2011, A synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Paraguay, Zootaxa 3055, pp. 43-61 : 57-59

Ceretes thais (Drury, 1782)

( Figs. 19 )

Papilio thais Drury, 1782

Taxonómic history. The genus Ceretes was proposed by Schaufuss (1870) to include the species “Nicon H[übner].”, “ Thais D[rury]” and “Marcel-Serres God[ar]t”. Miller (1986) and Lamas (1995) recognize only two species ( thais and marcelserres ) in the genus and nicon is considered a synonym of thais .

Distribution. Since this species is distributed from southeastern Brazil to Bolivia, and there are records of the species collected in Misiones, Argentina ( Miller 1986) [even though Lamas (pers. comm.) considers the Bolivian citations as possibly incorrect] it will not be surprising that it could also be found in Paraguay.

Biology and behavior. This genus is the only markedly sexually dimorphic in the family ( Miller 1986). Very little information is known about the species, except that adults can be seen flying during January and February mainly ( Miller 1986). Hosts are unknown.

Material examined. 1 3, Corupá, Brazil, Jan-1959 ( CUIC); 1 Ƥ, Corupá, Brazil, XII-1945, A. Mäller ( CUIC); 1 Ƥ, Corupá, Brazil, July 1965, FMNH-INS 0 0 0 0 0 41 483 ( FMNH); 1 3, Petropolis, Brazil, Jones, Brazil, Strecker Coll. 25652, FMNH-INS 0 0 0 0 0 41 484 ( FMNH); 1 Ƥ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Strecker Colln 25653, FMNH-INS 0 0 0 0 0 41 485 ( FMNH); 1 Ƥ, Brazil, December, Blumenthal ( FSCA); 1 Ƥ, Brazil, Coll. Dr. Frank Hedges ( FSCA); 1 Ƥ, Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina, Coll. A. Breyer ( MLP): 1 3, Brazil, Joinville, XII, 1958, local coll.leg. (RVC); 1 Ƥ Brazil, Boca do Mato, xii.2001, Cachotiras de Macacù (RVC); 2 Ƥ, Brazil, Boca do Mato, Cachotiras de Macacù, m.500, 21.0 1.1996 (RVC).

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 19. Adults of Castniidae. 17. Castnia lecerfi Dalla-Torre, 3, Argentina (MHNP); 18. Geyeria uruguayana (Burmeister), 3, Argentina (MGCL); 19. Ceretes thais (Drury), 3, Brazil (FMNH).