Bunaea alcinoe ( Cramer, 1780 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 147-148

Bunaea alcinoe ( Cramer, 1780) * ( Fig. 22 )

COMMON NAME (S): Common Emperor, Cabbage tree emperor moth or Edible caterpillar (“Finafikumbe”,”Mubambangoma” in Zambia).

SYNONYM(S): Thyella nyctalops Wallengren, 1860 ; Thyella punctigera Wallengren, 1860 ; Bunaea tricolor Rothschild, 1895b ; Bunaea alcinoina Oberth ̧r, 1910b; Bunaea barbertonia Oberth ̧r, 1910b; Bunaea debeeri Oberth ̧r, 1910b; Bunaea durbania Oberth ̧r, 1910b; Bunaea zanguebarica Oberth ̧r, 1910b; Bunaea nubica Jordan, 1910 ; Bunaea alberici

Dufrane, 1953; Bunaea atlantica Dufrane, 1953 ; Bunaea katangensis Dufrane, 1953 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Republic of Congo,

Sao Tome & Principe, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka ** in Lusaka Province; Kaoma in Western Province ; Mpika and Kopa ** in Muchinga Province ; Kasama ** in Northern Province .

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include: One Fabaceae species ( Acacia auriculiformis Benth. ), one Loganiaceae species ( Anthocleista schweinfurthii Gilg ), one Annonaceae species ( Cananga odorata (Lam.) Hook.f. &

Thomson), two Rubiaceae species ( Crossopteryx febrifuga (Afzel. ex G.Don) Benth. and Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E.A.Bruce ), one Burseraceae species ( Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H.J.Lam ), one

Apocynaceae species ( Diplorhynchus condylocarpon (M̧ll.Arg.) Pichon), one Anacardiaceae species

( Mangifera indica L.), one Lauraceae species ( Persea americana ) Mill. and one Combretaceae species

( Terminalia catappa L.) in the Democratic Republic of Congo; two Ulmaceae species ( Celtis africana

Burm.f. and C. kraussiana Bernh. ), two Araliaceae species ( Cussonia sp. and Cussonia spicata Thunb. )

and one Meliaceae species ( Ekebergia capensis Sparrm ) in South Africa; two Meliaceae species ( Khaya anthotheca (Welw.) C.DC. and K. grandifoliola C.DC. ) and one Euphorbiaceae species ( Sapium ellipticum (Hochst.) Pax ) in Uganda; one Meliaceae species ( Khaya senegalensis (Desv.) A.Juss. ) and one Myrsinaceae species ( Maesa lanceolata Forssk. ) in Gabon; one Fabaceae species ( Bauhinia reticulata DC. ), one Ulmaceae species ( Celtis sp. ), one Euphorbiaceae species ( Croton sp. ), two Meliaceae species ( Ekebergia capensis Sparrm. and Khaya sp. ), one Celastraceae species ( Gymnosporia senegalensis (Lam.) Loes. ), one Anacardiaceae species ( Harpephyllum caffrum ), one Myrsinaceae species ( Maesa sp. ) and one Combretaceae species ( Terminalia sp. ) in other unnamed African countries. No specific host plants for the taxon have been named for Zambia.

SOURCES: Darge 2014a; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Distant 1903; Fawcett 1901; Gardner 1957; Latham 2003; Latham & Konda ku Mbuta 2014; Pinhey 1972b; Rougeot 1962; Taylor 1949.

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.