Brote de Eacles imperialis (Lepidóptera: Saturniidae) en Cultivos de Cacao y Frutales en Milagro - Ecuador

The present work is the first report of Eacles imperialis Drury in the province of Guayas attacking cocoa plantations and other fruit-bearing trees. Larvae were collected in “La Garganta” located in the canton Milagro at the geographical coordinates: 2o06’52.66” of south latitude and 79o34’12.30” of western longitude, the species were identified by using taxonomic keys for the superfamily Bombicoidea, family Saturniidae and subfamily Citheroniinae. Larvae were reared in polyethylene flasks at invariable temperature of 27 oC. Features that allow the identification in the larva phase were: the four long dorsal "horns" or scoli of the second and third thoracic segments with shorter stiff dorsal scoli on most of the rest of the segments, long white sparse hair, lateral large white areas surrounding the spiracles and ringed by reddish brown, the design of the "claspers" or anal plates and the larva polymorphism. The present work shows a morphological comparison between different species of genus Eacles and information related to the distribution of this genus in the country and its host plants.