Biological and morphological characteristics of hylesia paulex (lepidoptera: saturniidae) fed with eucalyptus urophylla (myrtaceae)

hylesia spp. (saturniidae), important moths for public health due to urticating bristles of their larvae and/or adults, are collected in different habitats with potential to defoliate plants in agriculture and forest systems. biological and morphological characteristics of hylesia paulex (dognin, 1922) (lepidoptera: saturniidae) fed with eucalyptus urophylla (myrtaceae) were studied in the laboratory. recently-emerged caterpillars of this species were separated in 10 plastic pots (500ml) with 30 of them per pot, and fed daily with fresh leaves of e. urophylla until they reached adult stage. the egg incubation period of h. paulex was 32.00 ±1.19 days with 65.32 ±14.52% viability, and the duration of the larval stage reached 67.83 ±0.84 days, with seven instars. the gregarious behavior is important to maintain a high survival rate during this stage for h. paulex. the pre-pupa and pupa stages of this insect lasted 3.87 ±0.16 and 21.67 ±0.79 days, respectively. the longevity of females of this species was longer (4.50 ±0.54 days) than that of males (2.80 ±0.44 days). the mean number of eggs per egg mass was 132.3. moths of h. paulex completed its life cycle, satisfactorily, with leaves of e. urophylla in the laboratory.