Gonimbrasia belina ( Westwood, 1849 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 156-157

Gonimbrasia belina ( Westwood, 1849) * ( Fig. 23 )

COMMON NAME (S): Mopani worm, Mopane worm. Anomalous Emperor or Edible caterpillars (“Finkubala” in Zambia). SYNONYM(S): Antheraea huebneri Kirby, 1877a ; Nudaurelia sardane Sonthonnax, 1901b ; Gonimbrasia ufipana Strand, 1911a ; Nudaurelia ukerewensis Rebel, 1906 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia , Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda,

Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Sinde bridge in Livingstone, in Southern Province ; Riverside Motel ( RIMO) ** in Kafue , in Lusaka Province ; Kopa ** and Mpika **, in Muchinga Province.

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Host plants include: one Apocynaceae species ( Carissa macrocarpa (Eckl.) A.DC. ), one Ebenaceae species ( Diospyros sp. ), one Caesalpiniaceae species ( Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) Leonard ), one

Moraceae species ( Ficus sp. ), three Anacardiaceae species ( Searsia lancea (L.f.) F.A.Barkley, Protorhus longifolia (Bernh.) Engl. and Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro ), one Burseraceae species

( Commiphora sp. ) and two Fabaceae ( Acacia nigrescens Oliv. and Vachellia karroo (Hayne) Banfi &

Galasso in South Africa; one Caesalpiniaceae species ( Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) Leonard ) and two Anacardiaceae species ( Ozoroa crassinervia (Engl.) R.Fern. & A.Fern. and O. longipes (Engl. &

Gilg) R.Fern. & A.Fern.) in Namibia ; one Combretaceae species ( Terminalia velutina Rolfe ) in Uganda;

and one Ulmaceae species ( Trema bracteolate Blume ) and two Combretaceae species ( Terminalia schweinfurthii Engl. & Diels and another unnamed Terminalia sp. ) in unnamed countries elsewhere in

Africa ( Pinhey 1972b; Rougeot 1955, 1962). No specific host plants for this taxon have menthioned for

Zambia in the literature but the author of this paper collected the taxon from the Mopane tree species,

Colophospermum mopane (Caesalpiniaceae) around Kafue Riverside Motel (RIMO), in Kafue, Lusaka

Province in this study.

Without naming specific countries in which they are found, the African Moths (2019) website simply lists the following as larval foodplants of the taxon: One Apocynaceae species, Carissa macrocarpa (Eckl.) A.DC. ; one Ebenaceae species, Diospyros sp. ; three Fabaceae species, Burkea africana Hook. , Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) Leonard and Copaifera sp. ; one Pinaceae species, Pinus radiata D.Don ; one Moraceae species, Ficus sp. ; five Anacardiaceae species, Searsia lancea (L.f.) F.A.Barkley, Protorhus longifolia (Bernh.) Engl. , Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst. , S. birrea subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro and Mangifera indica L.; one Salicaceae species, Salix sp. ; two Combretaceae species, Terminalia schweinfurthii Engl. & Diels and T. velutina Rolfe and one Ulmaceae species, Trema bracteolata Blume.

Ecological NOTE: The larvae (caterpillars) of this species are the well-known as Mopane worms, a popular traditional food source in much of the southern African region. These caterpillars however, are not restricted to the mopane tree ( Colophosperma mopane (Kirk ex Benth.) Kirk ex J.Léonard ) for their food source but can be found on quite a number of different plant species some of which are listed above.

Four wasp species from the family Eulophidae (i.e. Mesocomys pulchriceps Cameron , Eupelmus urozonus Dalman , Anastatus sp. and Pediobius sp. ) are reported as parasitoids of the taxon in South Africa ( van den Berg 1971).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; Darge 2014b; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Distant 1903; Fawcett 1903; Gardner 1957; Malaisse 1997; Oberprieler 1995; Pinhey 1962, 1972b; Rougeot 1955, Saturniidae of the World 2019; van den Berg 1971.

Figures

FIGURES 23–25. Caterpillars. 23a, b, Cirina forda orientalis—Pallid Emperor (Saturniidae: Saturniinae). 6th Instar larva at Riverside Motel (RIMO) in Kafue, 22 January 2011. 24, Gonimbrasia belina (Westwood, 1894) — Anomalous Emperor or Mopane Worm (Saturniidae: Saturniinae), 5th and 6th instar larvae at RIMO, in Kafue, 17 January 2011. 25, Gonimbrasia belina (Westwood, 1894)—Anomalous Emperor or Mopane Worm (Saturniidae: Saturniinae), 6th instar larva at RIMO, in Kafue, 17 January 2011. © Kind permission of the University of Zambia.