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33-404: This rural town on the east coast of the country has many banana and pineapple plantations. The area is not much visited by tourists. Its name is taken from the fast-growing malva family tree, Guacimo , native to Central America. Guácimo was created on 26 June 1971 by Decreto 1769-G. The town began with the construction of the railway built by West Indian employees of Minor Cooper Keith in

66-496: A branched pattern around 2.5–5 cm in length and are found at the bottom of the leaves. The flowers come in many, are short-stalked, small in size, have a brown-yellow color, five parted, 1 cm in length and have a small fragrance to them. The calyx contains are lobed (2-3), have hairs that are brown or light grey, as well as greenish. They have 5 petals with a yellow-like stamen, 15 anthers per pistil, 5 stigmas (combined), ovary lighter green in color with hairs, and also contains

99-956: A dark brown head, a soma covered with fine short setae , and black tentacle-like protuberances on the dorsum of the thoracic segments. The intersegmental membrane is colored with thin orange-yellow rings. The adults are large brown moths that like to rest with spread wings. They are predominantly dull colored, though some may display complex patterns. The adult wingspan is 100–120 mm. The giant silk moth occurs mainly in Central and Southern America, from tropical Mexico to southeastern Brazil. They can be found on Guazuma ulmifolia , Rollinia membranacea , and Bombacopsis quinatum plants. They are also found in Costa Rica in all wildland ecosystems from dry forest to very wet rain-forest. Giant silk moth caterpillars are noted for their gregariousness in all phases of larval development. A peculiar phenomenon

132-457: A large cluster on the underside of a leaf, whereas females from other species of Arsenurinae lay one or two eggs at a time and at different individual trees. The caterpillars of other arsenurites are cryptic and not social, and will hence benefit more from being laid in single batches. The eggs will hatch after 12 to 14 days. The giant silk moth is edible in its larval stage and is consumed by some indigenous peoples of Mexico . This practice

165-423: A particular group of caterpillars, though research has found that individual caterpillars do not exhibit strict site fidelity. An individual caterpillar may sometime shift sites when descended of the tree, depending on which pheromone trails it decides to follow on its return journey to a central site. Larvae continue this central place foraging behavior until they leave the tree as prepupates to solitarily excavate

198-747: A population of 18,326 inhabitants. Longstanding English surnames in Guácimo include the Abrams, Anderson, Arboine, Bailey, Barnes, Berry, Blackwood, Budd, Burke, Burger, Byfield, Chambers, Channer, Clarke, Cook, Cowan, Crawford, Creed, Cyrus, Daily, Daniels, Davis, Douglas, Edwards, Fennell, Forbes, Gabriels, Gale, Gibson, Graham, Grant, Harris, Hemmings, Henry, Howard, Jones, Knowles, Leacock, Lee, Lovemore, McCarthy, McDonald, McFarlane, McGregor, Meyers, Myrie, Parchment, Peart, Philips, Porter, Poyser, Samuels, Slack, Stewart, Strackman, Taylor, Thomas, Valentine, Walcott, Watson, White, Williams, and Young families, as evidenced by

231-446: A pupation chamber in the soil, where they pupate. Eclosion occurs in June, shortly after the beginning of the rainy season. The pupae eclose after spending a long dry season as solitary and dormant pupae 2–10 cm below the soil surface. In captivity, both sexes eclose about an hour after dark and mating takes place on the same night pupation occurs. The following night, females look for

264-444: A role in the grouping behavior and aposematism of the giant silk moth. It is known that the late instar larvae are lethally poisonous to predators such as trogon nestlings, among others, when swallowed. The bright colors, augmented by the large number of caterpillars in a larval mass, are a visible deterrent to any would-be predators. The larvae hatch from large egg masses laid on the underside of leaves. Unlike their close relatives,

297-630: A rounded crown. Leaves are distributed in an alternate pattern with 2 rows in assembled flatly. The leaves are ovate to lance-shaped, finely saw-toothed margin, usually have a rough texture and are 6–13 cm in length and 2.5–6 cm in diameter. Three to five main veins arise from the base (rounded or notched, unequal sided) of the leaf which has a darker green upper surface and a fairer green color underneath. They are virtually hairless and thin. The leaf stalks of this species are lean, approximately 6-12mm long, and are covered with small "star-shaped" hairs. The panicles (indeterminate flower clusters) are in

330-409: A style. The fruit which have capsules that are round to elliptical is 15-25mm in length. They have many seeds that are shaped like eggs and are 3mm in length, grey. The species flowers throughout the year, in particular from April to October. Guazuma ulmifolia can be cultivated by either directly planting seeds or cuttings of the plant, as well as root stumps and bare-root seedlings. Before planting

363-560: A suitable food plant like Guazuma ulmifolia , where they will lay their entire egg load in one mass on the underside of a leaf. Occasionally females will split the clutch into two roughly equal-sized masses, both of which may be laid on the same night or over two nights. The average egg mass contains about 300 to 400 eggs. Females live for 6 to 8 days after eclosion, just like other related saturniids . The giant silk moth differs drastically from its close relatives in terms of ovipositioning behavior. Female moths lay all of their eggs in

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396-669: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Guazuma ulmifolia Guazuma ulmifolia , commonly known as West Indian elm or bay cedar , is a medium-sized tree normally found in pastures and disturbed forests. This flowering plant from the family Malvaceae grows up to 30m in height and 30–40 cm in diameter. It is widely found in areas such as the Caribbean , South America , Central America and Mexico serving several uses that vary from its value in carpentry to its utility in medicine. Guazuma ulmifolia grows to 30m in height and 30–40 cm in diameter and comes with

429-574: Is a private agricultural sciences university in Guácimo. The railroad bridge in Guácimo, built by the Baltimore Bridge Company in 1905, is the oldest still standing in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica. Across the bridge, Guácimo's sister city of Africa was a bigger town than Guácimo until "colonists" began moving in from other parts of Costa Rica. The district is covered by the following road routes: This Costa Rican location article

462-727: Is also used as a diuretic and astringent. Arsenura armida Arsenura armida , the giant silk moth , is a moth of the family Saturniidae . It is found mainly in South and Central America, from Mexico to Bolivia , and Ecuador to south-eastern Brazil . It was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is the only known Neotropical arsenurinae to exhibit a combination of strong aposematism , gregariousness , and trail-following behavior in its larval stage. The larvae are brightly colored, with bright black and yellow bands, which signal their unpleasant taste to birds. The larvae are also fatally poisonous to some species of birds. During

495-516: Is called entomophagy . The Ixcohuapa community of the Zongolica area of Veracruz , Mexico are known to gather and consume the early instar larvae. Larvae can be cooked and then eaten as an alternative source of protein. People are also known to preserve the larvae in a vinegar solution that gives them the taste of herring. Larvae are usually sold in the streets either in ambulant markets or by independent street vendors. There exist no laws to regulate

528-651: Is normally found in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. They are native to Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and

561-407: Is shaped by the joint effects of phylogenetic history, larval nutritional ecology, size or appearance, and defensive ecology. Such behavior shifts can be found in other species. For instance, the larvae of many swallowtails begin as cryptic mimics of bird droppings but then switch to aposematism or aggressive mimicry in later instars. Predation and/or parasitism is hypothesized to have played

594-506: Is the shift in different forms of social behavior from early to late instars . In early instars, the larvae aggregate at all times in different patches and engage in nomadic foraging. As they age, these moths display a shift to a central foraging location so that larvae feed solitarily at night but, when done feeding, ascend to the canopy at roughly the same time to rest diurnally . Hypotheses have been made to try and explain this shift in behavior. In general, caterpillar feeding behavior

627-458: The 1880s. Keith built the so-called "Old Line" from Siquirres west through Guácimo to Carrillo before it was decided that the track line, instead of continuing from Carrillo directly to San José , should be built from Siquirres through Turrialba and Cartago along the Reventazon River. Guácimo has an area of 223.27 km² and an elevation of 114 metres. For the 2011 census , Guácimo had

660-604: The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Virgin Islands (US). The wood of the Guazuma ulmifolia is utilized for posts, interior carpentry, light construction, boxes, crates, shoe horns, tool handles, and charcoal. The wood is found to be very unproblematic to work with. The sapwood has a color of brown (light) and the heartwood is pink to brown. Guazuma ulmifolia serves as a very vital source of fodder for livestock approaching

693-405: The canopy. At dawn, they return to the original central place using pheromone trails. To date, giant silk moth larvae are one of the few social Lepidoptera known where silk is not produced at all when foraging. The trails they follow are all pheromone based. The pheromones are deposited by caterpillars as they move to distant feed sites. These trails facilitate the re-aggregation of the group at

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726-427: The day, the larvae rest in large conspicuous masses on the trunks of trees, and descend at night to feed. When returning at dawn, they follow a silk-less pheromone trail to their original central place location. This social behavior is remarkable for the larvae; other members of the genus live more solitary lives. The larvae feed on Guazuma ulmifolia , Rollinia membranacea and Bombacopsis quinatum . After

759-438: The diameter of the stem reached 1.5-2.5 cm, which is usually about 5–8 months. The Guazuma ulmifolia falls prey most commonly to the defoliating insect Phelyypera distigma , as well as Arsenura armida , Epitragus sp., Aepytus sp., Automeris rubrescens , Hylesia lineata , Lirimiris truncata and Periphoba arcaei . These defoliators very rarely cause problems, but has been seen . Guazuma ulmifolia

792-519: The end of the dry season of the native array dry areas. It is the favored tree for fodder in Jamaica. The trees also serve to bestow shade in pastures. The immature fruits and leaves are given as food to horses and cattle. The fruits are also given to domestic pigs in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The leaves and fruits are usually fed to the cattle throughout the arid season. The trees may also serve

825-400: The first-instar larvae are neither cryptic nor solitary. They hatch in groups, and feed together, side-by-side on leaves. They employ a nomadic foraging technique, moving together when resources are exhausted. During the nomadic foraging phase, the caterpillars utilize a pheromone trail to promote group cohesion, as well as mark trails between feeding sites. In the fourth instar and onwards,

858-407: The larva's fourth instar , it will descend from the larval mass, excavate a small chamber in the soil and pupate. Then, shortly after the rainy season in June, the pupa will eclose (emerge). The adult form of the species are large brown moths which possess a wingspan of 100–120 mm. The adults will mate the same night they emerge, and afterwards the females will lay their eggs in large batches on

891-442: The monthly active Linea Vieja local newspaper, current election registration sheets (known as the "padron electoral"), and 20th-century Jamaican Gleaner articles. For much of its history Guácimo was mainly made up of English-speaking West Indians. The town elementary school, Manuel María Gutiérrez, was originally an English school when established in 1914. EARTH University ( Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda ),

924-428: The new feeding location and help prevent separation. At dawn, caterpillars will follow a pheromone trail to the original central place site to form bivouacs . Studies have shown that larval trail following can be elicited by wiping cuticular material collected from the venter and dorsum of the abdomen of giant silk moth caterpillars onto the host plant. Crude extracts of homogenated somatic tissue can also elicit

957-443: The pheromone trail is mainly used as a marker to convey information for relocation to the central place site. By the fourth instar the larvae begin to rest diurnally in large conspicuous masses on the lower trunk of larger branches. They adopt a new feeding behavior, called central place foraging. In this behavior, caterpillars rest during the day in large visible groups, then mobilize at dusk to forage nocturnally as solitary larvae in

990-513: The purpose of being actual posts surrounding pastures. The crunchy, woody fruits and its seeds are edible raw or cooked and have a mild, sweet, honey/granola like flavor. Pixoy gum was used as a fixative in Maya stucco paintings at sites such as Ek'Balam in Yucatán, Mexico. A beverage of crushed seeds soaked in water is used to treat diarrhea, dysentery, colds, coughs, contusions, and venereal disease. It

1023-418: The same response. The trail marker is hypothesized to be a component of the cuticle that is passively deposited from the posterior-ventral region of the abdomen as larvae move over the host plant. Tree architecture also plays a role in re-aggregation. Trees with a single trunk funnel aggregate returning caterpillars more quickly and more densely than those with multiple trunks. The same bivouac can be used by

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1056-407: The seeds they need to be soaked in boiling water for 30 seconds; the water should be drained afterward. 7–14 days after fresh seeds are planted, germination occurs (60-80% rate). When they reach a height of 30–40 cm which is usually about 15 weeks later they are then prepared for “outplanting.” When using root stumps as a means for propagation they are left to dwell in a nursery for some time until

1089-591: The underside tree leaves. To the indigenous people of the Zongolica area of Veracruz , the larvae are also a form of sustenance; they are gathered and eaten after being cooked. Arsenura armida is also known as the giant silk moth. It belongs to the subfamily Arsenurinae , consisting of approximately 57 species of Neotropical saturniids found from tropical Mexico to northern Argentina . The young larvae exhibit aposematism through their bright yellow and black-ringed bodies and red heads. The later instars are darker and "duskier" than early instars. They possess

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