Imbrasia epimethea

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Imbrasia epimethea
Saturnid moth (Imbrasia epimethea).jpg
Saturnid moth (Imbrasia epimethea) underside.jpg
In Uganda
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturniidae
Genus: Imbrasia
Species:
I. epimethea
Binomial name
Imbrasia epimethea
(Drury, 1773)
Synonyms
  • Phalaena epimetheaDrury, 1773
  • Imbrasia crameriKirby, 1892
  • Imbrasia diomedeKarsch, 1893
  • Bunaea dorcasWalker, 1855
  • Eacles epimedeaHerrich-Schäffer, 1855
  • Imbrasia nadariBouvier, 1928
  • Bombyx nictitansFabricius, 1775
  • Imbrasia paradoxaDufrane, 1953

Imbrasia epimethea is a species of moth belonging to the family Saturniidae. It was first described by Dru Drury in 1773 from the Calabar coast.

Contents

Description

Upper side: antennae strongly pectinated; the extremities appearing like threads. Thorax light brown, tinged with red. Abdomen grey brown. Anterior wings light grey brown, tinged with red at the base; having a narrow dark-coloured bar verged with grey running from the anterior to the posterior edges, parallel and at a little distance from the external margin. Posterior wings grey brown, terminating behind in points like acute angles; a dark narrow bar, edged with white, crosses these wings from the upper corners to the abdominal edges, dividing them into two compartments; in the uppermost of which are placed two eyes, whose centres are yellow, surrounded with black irides edged with red, and which also are encircled with ash-coloured rings. Above these eyes the wings are dark-coloured, almost black; but next the body are of a reddish hue.

Under side: legs black. Thorax and abdomen same colour as on the upper side. Wings nearly the same colour as on the upper side; the bars being plain and distinct, but the eyes are not observable here.

Drury's text does not state the wingspan, but his figure shows it as 5 inches (127mm). [1]

Distribution

It is found in Angola, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Bas Congo, Katanga, Orientale), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. [2]

Biology

The larvae are highly gregarious [3] and feed on Theobroma cacao , Petersianthus africanus , Petersianthus macrocarpus , Holarrhena floribunda , Funtumia species (including Funtumia africana and Funtumia elastica ), Ricinodendron heudelotii , Acacia lahai , Terminalia , Bauhinia and Anona senegalensis .

Subspecies

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References

  1. Drury, Dru (1837). Westwood, John (ed.). Illustrations of Exotic Entomology. Vol. 2. p. 24. pl. XIII.
  2. "AfroMoths". www.afromoths.net. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  3. Latham, Paul (2003). Edible caterpillars and their food plants in Bas-Congo (First ed.). Mystole. pp. 20, 21. ISBN   0954301277.