Gabon
It has a tropical climate: always hot and humid. There is a narrow coastal plain, while the interior is hilly with savanna in the east and south.
A relatively small population and some rich oil resources make Gabon a relatively wealthy African country. There are many untouched forests and a diversified Saturniidae group.
Most of the population is among the Bantu tribes including four major tribal groupings: Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba. Caterpillars of several species are probably harvested for food.
Below is an active checklist for Gabon. A special thanks goes to Rodolphe Rougerie RR for his help with (creation of) this list.
I have added Athletes albicans and Nudaurelia amathusia based on electronic images, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner (SB).
Thierry Bouyer, May 10, 2006, has provided me with material for a significant upgrade.
Thierry indicates the following are probably present, but not yet confirmed:
Holocerina guineensis and Lobobunaea sangha
Thierry indicates the following are possibly present, but not yet confirmed:
Decachorda rosea,
Gonimbrasia hecate,
Gynanisa ata,
Micragone ansorgei,
Pseudobunaea "irius",
Urota sinope and
Usta terpsichore.
Orthogonioptilum tristis is not listed by Thierry, but Philippe Darge indicates it might be present in exteme northern Gabon. Rodolphe Rougerie also indicates he has a specimen very much matching the description of Epiphora boolana so those possibilities must be explored.
I believe the checklist is now very accurate, possibly with a few additions to follow.
According to http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7540e/w7540e06.htm, people in Gabon eat Pseudantheraea discrepans larvae July to November with largest consumption in September-October. Pupae are consumed in November.
Lobobunaea goodii larvae are consumed in August and October; Nudaurelia dione larvae are consumed in February, May-July and September, suggesting three broods.
Over the years I hope to be able to create checklists for each of Gabon's nine provinces.If any of you have collecting data that would indicate a province, please forward it to me. I expect the initial lists will contain many omissions and a few incorrect inclusions, but accuracy should improve greatly over time. Some of the moths listed by Rodolphe Rougerie and the Natural History Museum website are without specific location data and I have placed them in those provinces where I think they are most likely to occur. I have also placed most of the Orthogonioptilum based on Philippe Darge's maps rather than on specific data. Moyen-Ogooue March 2006. |
 |
** Thierry Bouyer has indicated that he does not feel that the specimens described as Orthogonioptilum adiegetum pseudadiegetum are different from O. adiegetum adiegetum. Darge does not list O. a. adeigetum from Gabon, but he does list Orthogonioptilum adiegetum pseudadiegetum from Gabon. I think Thierry is most likely correct, but I temporarily leave both entities listed on this page.
Woleum-Ntem |
Estuaire |
Moyen-Ogooue
|
Ogooue-Ivindo |
|
