The Hedylidae is a lepidopteran group exclusively neotropical, with 35 known species in the genus Macrosoma Hübner, 1818. The family was classified as Geometridae moths but presently they are considered a basal and nocturnal group of butterflies. The collections were carried out monthly from January to December of 2004, during three nights of lunar transition third quarter moon/new moon from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The insects were collected over a vertical white sheet illuminated by a 250 watt mixed light and a 20 watt black-light (BLB) lamp installed in a tower at a height of 40 m. We collected 53 male specimens and two female specimens, belonging to nine species of which one was probably new to science: M. hedylaria Warren (1894), M. bahiata (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875), M. conifera (Warren, 1897), M. heliconiaria (Guenée, 1857), M. hyacinthina (Warren, 1905), M. klagesi (Prout, 1916), M. lucivittata (Walker, 1863) M. nigrimacula (Warren, 1897) e Macrosoma sp. The hedylids were more abundant in the rainy season, December to May, with 65,5% of the collected specimens. They were collected mainly from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm with 80% of the collected specimens.
Central Amazonia; flight activity; systematic collection; canopy
