Eupalamides cyparissias cyparissias (Fabricius 1776) (Fig. 1)

This is a well known pest of oil palm ( Elaeis guianeensis), coconut ( Cocos nucifera), and other palms ( Arecaceae) in the near­by countries of Guyana and Surinam (Miller 1986, 1987). It can be easily distinguished from E. guyanensis (Houlbert) (common in near­by Venezuela) by the presence of long, thread­like scales that cover half of the under side of the forewing (González 1999). Although Cock (1985) states that this species [cited as Lapaeumides dedalus (Cramer)] is restricted to mainland South America, we found one specimen from Trinidad.

Urich (1909, 1915) cites a record by Mr. Ottier who found caterpillars of Telchin licus (reported as Castnia licus) attacking young coconut palms. It is possible that Ottier confused this species with E. cyparissias since their larvae are quite similar (Miller 1987) (see discussion under T. licus below). We believe that the specimen studied could have been a vagrant from the mainland. Curiously, it is a rather small specimen.

Material Examined: TRINIDAD: 1Ψ, 5 Jun 1925 (CUIC).