Rwanda
In 1959, three years before Rwanda's independence from Belgium, the Hutus (majority ethnic group), overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 were driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and began a civil war in 1990.
The war, along with other trials, heightened ethnic tensions, resulting in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in April 1994.
Eventually the Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the mass killings in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees, many fearing Tutsi retribution, fled to neighboring countries.
Most refugees have returned, but the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation.
Tutsi, Hutu, and other conflicting ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces continue fighting in the Great Lakes region in the west. There is much localized violence.
The country is also prone to droughts, and a series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to become a peaceful and prosperous nation.
It may be some time before realistic Saturniidae collecting and documentation can be done in Rwanda. I would not want to try to run a generator on any mountain slopes.
Gonimbrasia conradsi, Mount Sabyinyo, Virunga Volcano, Rwanda,
8000 f, courtesy of David Bygott.
Species diversity may be somewhat limited as Rwanda is mostly grassy uplands and mountainous terrain with altitude declining from Volcan Karisimbi at 4,519 m and the volcanic Virunga mountains in the northwest to the south and east. The lowest point is along the Rusizi River at 950 m in the southwest.
Deforestation also poses a threat to Saturniidae species as tracts of land are cut for fuel in a country that is already primarily savannah grassland.
Soil erosion and soil exhaustion are proliferated by terrain and population density.
Climate is temperate due to altitude, with frost and snow sometimes in the mountains. There are two rainy seasons: February to April and November to January. I suspect peak flight times would be November-January.
There is probably the greatest diversity where there are still forests.
 The active checklist below is primarily comprised of (SZ) Siberian Zoological Museum records, a (BT) Butterfly Trade report, Natural History Museum (NHM) records and my own (WO) interpolation, using species documented from Tanzania and the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Please note: those species followed by my initials are not confirmed, just suspected.
Corrections/additions/collecting data/images are much
appreciated and should be sent to
Bill Oehlke.
I have most recently updated this page via information from Thierry Bouyer for Nyungwe National Park (TBN).
Micragonini Tribe:
Decachorda aspersa EVS |
Attacini:
Epiphora albida TBN
Athletes gigas |
Thierry Bouyer sites the following species from Nyungwe in southern Rwanda:
Pseudoludia nyungwe Bouyer, 1988
Holocerina angulata Aurivillius, 1893
Ludia orinoptena Karsch, 1892
Micragone agathylla (Westwood, 1849)
Orthogonioptilum mucronatum Darge, 1988
Goodia unguiculata Bouvier, 1936
Pselaphelia vandenberghei Bouyer, 1992
Pseudaphelia karemii Bouvier, 1927
Urota sinope (Westwood, 1849)
Tagoropsis hecqui Bouyer, 1989
Tagoropsis ikondae tracenlis Bouyer, 2002
Imbrasia epimethea
Imbrasia vesperina Stonheham
Gonimbrasia conradsi Rebel, 1906
Gonimbrasia (N.) cleoris (Jordan, 1910)
Gonimbrasia (N.) anthinoides Rougeot, 1978
Gonimbrasia (N.) wahlbergina Rougeot, 1972
Gonimbrasia (N.) dione (Fabricius, 1793
Pseudobunaea orientalis Rougeot, 1972
Pseudobunaea tyrrhena (Westwood, 1849)
Lobobunaea turlini Lemaire, 1977
Lobobunaea jeanneli Rougeot, 1959
Lobobunaea dallastai Bouyer, 1984
Lobobunaea acetes (Westwood, 1849)
Aurivillius triramis Rothschild, 1907
Athletes ethra (Westwood, 1849)
Epiphora ploetzi (Weymer, 1880)
Epiphora rectifascia Rothschild, 1907
Epiphora albida (Druce, 1886)
Epiphora marginimacula Joicey & Talbot, 1924
Wiki lists the following from Rwanda:
Lobobunaea acetes (Westwood, 1849)
Lobobunaea ansorgei (Rothschild, 1899)
Lobobunaea jeanneli Rougeot, 1959
Lobobunaea turlini Lemaire, 1977
Orthogonioptilum adiegetum Karsch, 1892
Pselaphelia vandenberghei Bouyer, 1992
Tagoropsis rougeoti Fletcher, 1952
Urota centralis Bouyer, 2008
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