Saturniidae of Cameroon
The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country.
Cameroon has a diverse topography. A densely forested plateau extends from the Sanaga River to the Gabon border in the south; a coastal plain separates these highlands from the Atlantic. Terrain in the central region rises gradually, culminating in the Adamawa (Adamaoua) Plateau. In the far north the land drops toward Lake Chad. Western Cameroon is mountainous; there Cameroon Mountain, the highest point in the country, rises to 4,070 m (13,354 ft).
The climate is tropical. Average temperatures range between 21° and 28° C (70° and 82° F). In the south, rains fall between April and November and are rare the rest of the year. The central zone has two dry seasons and two wet periods; in the north, rain falls only between May and October. Average annual rainfall ranges from 10,160 mm (400 in) in the west to 386 mm (15.2 in) in the north. Vegetation is correspondingly varied, and most species of African wildlife are also present. These are protected in several national parks and faunal reserves, including the Dja Faunal Reserve, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cameroon offers severe extremes in climate as the balmy wetness of the coast and south give way to the arid heat of the north. The coastal and southen regions of Cameroon are consistently humid and often rainy during March to November, with temperatures hovering around 25-29°C (77-84°F) most of the time.
The diverse topography and climate give rise to extensive and varied Saturniidae populations.
Below is an active checklist for Cameroon. I think most of the species listed are present, but I suspect there are many species present which still have not been listed. Help would be much appreciated.
I am following Thierry Bouyer's classification
revisions in his 1999 Catalogue of African Saturniidae with
movement of Cirina fordi into Imbrasia fordi as per a
recommendation by Rolf Oberprieler.
I find Cooper and Cooper's suggestions in The Emperor Moths of
KwaZulu-Natal to be interesting and appropriate, and have begun
to use them in revised listings at the bottom of this page.
Goto Main Index
The distinct Epiphora genus maintains its status within subfamily Attacinae, and the distinct Argema genus maintains its status within subfamily Saturniinae.
The following would apply to Cameroon.
Tribe:DecachordiniThe Decachordini would consists solely of members of genus Decachorda. The Decachorda are small moths with rounded wings. Ground colour ranges from beige to pink and yellow. As far as I know, this genus is not represented in Cameroon.Hairy larvae pupate within cocoons. |
Tribe: MicragoniniMales have facate forewings. Larvae, with urticating setae, affix cocoons to a branch or a stem.
This group would include just the Micragone, moths without eyespots. The forewings have a very produced apex, and all wings have scalloped outer margins.
Micragone lichenodes male, Cameroon,
courtesy of Eric van Schayck,
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Tribe: MicragoniniMales have facate forewings. Larvae, with urticating setae, affix cocoons to a branch or a stem.
This group would include the Goodia, Campimoptilum, Orthogonioptilum, Carnegia and Guillemeia, moths with prominent lunate hyaline spots or an unusual pattern of windows of varying shapes and sizes.
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Tribe: MicragoniniThe Campimoptilum would include moths formerly known as Goodia kuntzei and Goodia boulardi. Cooper and Cooper move them to Campimoptilum for morpholigical and phylogenetic reasons. These moths fly with more rounded wings in arid regions. This genus is not represented in Cameroon. |
Tribe: MicragoniniThe Orthogonioptilum are well represented in Cameroon, but with fifty-seven species in Africa (thirty-two in Cameroon), the genus will probably be further subdivided.Males generally have very falcate wings and are predominantly dark, a mixture of brown, black, dull orange, grey and drab olive. Females are quite different. The numbers after the scientific name indicate the median of the wingspan range given by Darge. If you are going to send images for identification, please indicate wingspan. Many species within this genus are very difficut to id.
 Orthogonioptilum luminosum courtesy of Eric van Schayck
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Tribe: MicragoniniThe Carnegia have falcate wings and extensions at the anal angle of the hindwings. Carnegia mirabilis male.
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Tribe: Micragonini
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Tribe: MicragoniniThe Ludia males have strongly falcate wings, an irregular clear 3-shaped spot, and an orange and black hindwing eyespot with a crescentric, black-edged pupil.
Ludia orinoptena (male), Cameroon, courtesy of
Eric van Schayck. |
Tribe: MicragoniniThe male Guillemeia have moderately falcate wings. Some authors included G. incanum with the Orthogonioptilum. Cooper and Cooper recommend a resurrection of the genus Guillemeia. Darge places incanum in the genus Afroptilum or Adafroptilum. Unfortunately I do not have an image of the male Guillemeia incanum, female, courtesy of Jean-Michel Maes.
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Go to Tribe: Bunaeini: Athletes, Aurivillius, Bunaea, Bunaeopsis, Cinabra, Gonimbrasia, Imbrasia
Go to Tribe: Bunaeini: Lobobunaea, Lobobunaeoides, Nudaurelia, Pinheyella, Pseudimbrasia, Pseudobunaea
I am also in the process of creating checklists for the ten recognized
Provinces in Cameroon. If you have specific (location) collecting
data for specimens in your collection, please forward same for
inclusion at
Cameroon Provincial Checklists: Athletes to Imbrasia.
Cameroon Provincial Checklists: Lobobunaea to Pseudobunaea.
Go to Tribe: Micragoni: Orthogonioptilum
Go to Tribe: Micragonini: Carnegia, Goodia,
Holocerina, Ludia, Micragone
