Guadeloupe, Pointe à Pitre, Hospital, 1-I-1984, ex pupa

Empyreuma affinis Rothschild, 1912

Arctiidae Ctenuchinae

Synonyms

Biology

This species was accidentally introduced (together with Syntomeida epilais Walker). It was found for the first time in Guadeloupe in 1981 (Chalumeau and Benito-Espinal, 1984, Bull. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 53: 175-182).

The larva feeds on oleander, Nerium oleander, where it competes with S. epilais. It seemed that the extension of S. epilais was correlated with a decrease of E. affinis (although recent data would be required to confirm this).

Distribution

Guadeloupe. Discovered around the airport of Pointe à Pitre, but did not extend to Grande Terre (to be confirmed).

Endemic from the Antilles, decribed from Cuba, also found on Hispaniola (E. haitensis).

Introduced in Florida (1978).

Pheromone

The sex pheromone produced by the female moths has been described (Descoins et al., 1989, C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris, III, 309: 577-581.) under the name of E. mucro. It consists of:

• (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-heneicosatriene: 15%
• (cis)-9,10-epoxy-(Z,Z)-3,6-heneicosadiene: 85%

The chemical composition is identical to that of Syntomeida epilais, the specific isolation might might rely on auditory signals, although interspecific copulation attempts were observed in Florida (Sanderford, personal communication).