Diet

• The larval food plants of Hyalurga are poorly documented at the genus level.

• Available records indicate that species are associated with a variety of broad-leaved plants, rather than a single host-plant family.

• Some Hyalurga species are associated with plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can be sequestered by the larvae or subsequently incorporated into their chemical defences.

Habitat

• Hyalurga is a predominantly Neotropical genus associated with tropical and subtropical forest environments.

• Caterpillars are expected in forest, forest edges, secondary vegetation and clearings where suitable larval food plants occur.

• Species are particularly represented in tropical South America, although the genus also occurs elsewhere in the Neotropics.

Description

• The caterpillars of Hyalurga belong to the tiger-moth subfamily Arctiinae and are generally hairy larvae with setae arising from distinct body tubercles.

• Larval appearance varies among species, and there is not enough published information to define a single characteristic appearance for the entire genus.

• As with many Pericopina, the caterpillars may have contrasting colours or bands that function as warning coloration.