Argema mimosae ( Boisduval, 1847 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 143-145

Argema mimosae ( Boisduval, 1847) *

( Figs 18–21 ) COMMON NAME (S): African Lunar Moth, African Moon Moth or Moon Moth. SYNONYM(S): Argema elucidata Grunberg, 1910b ; Argema occidentalis Gschwandner, 1923 ; Argema bouvieri Ghesquière, 1934 ).

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia , South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Victoria Falls Region and Livingstone in Southern Province ; Riverside Motel ( RIMO) in Kafue **, in Lusaka Province .

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include: two Anacardiaceae species ( Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro and Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst. and one Euphorbiaceae species ( Spirostachys africana Sond. ) in

South Africa. One Anacardiaceae species ( Sclerocarya birrea ((A.Rich.) Hochst.) and one Euphorbiaceae species ( Spirostachys africana ) Sond. in Namibia ; and one Burseraceae species ( Commiphora mollis

(Oliv.) Engl.) elsewhere in an unnamed African country. No specific host plants of the taxon have been associated with Zambia. Without listing specific host plants of the taxon for specific African countries,

African Moths (2019) webpage list the following plant species as hosts of the taxon in the above African countries: two Anacardiaceae species ( Sclerocarya caffra and Sclerocarya birrea ), one Burseraceae species ( Commiphora mollis ), two Euphorbiaceae species ( Spirostachys africana Sond. and Excoecaria africana (Sond.) M̧ll.Arg.), one Myrtaceae species ( Eucalyptus sp. ), one Juglandaceae species ( Juglans regia L.), one Altingiaceae species ( Liquidambar sp. ) and one Anacardioideae ( Malosma laurina (Nutt.)

Nutt. ex Abrams).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Oberprieler 1995; Pinhey 1972b.

Genus Athletes Karsch, 1896b

Figures

FIGURES 18–22. Argema mimosa (Boisduval 1847) (Saturniidae: Saturniinae)—African Lunar Moth. 18, cocoon, collected from RIMO Kafue, 14 February 2011. 19, male, dorsal view, Kafue, 1 December 2011. 20, ditto, ventral view. 21, newly emerged adult moth male, from cocoon collected from RIMO Kafue, 14th February 2011. 22a, adult female December 1, 2011, dorsal view. 22b, ditto, ventral view. Scale bar 2 cm. © Kind permission of the University of Zambia.