Senegal

Epiphora bauhiniae male, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe copyright.

Gonimbrasia occidentalis male, Mar Lodj, Fatick Region, Senegal,
June 28, 2010, courtesy of E. Fenton, id by Bill Oehlke

Imbrasia obscura female, Basse Casamance, Ziguinchor, Senegal,
July 20, 2011, courtesy of Pieter Van Pamel.

"Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, except for Gambia's short Atlantic coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi). The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season." Wiki

"The local climate is tropical with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. The dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind. Dakar's annual rainfall of about 600 mm (24 in) occurs between June and October when maximum temperatures average 30 °C (86.0 °F) and minimums 24.2 °C (75.6 °F); December to February maximum temperatures average 25.7 °C (78.3 °F) and minimums 18 °C (64.4 °F).

"Interior temperatures are higher than along the coast (for example, average daily temperatures in Kaolack and Tambacounda for May are 30 °C (86.0 °F) and 32.7 °C (90.9 °F) respectively, compared to Dakar's 23.2 °C (73.8 °F) ),[24] and rainfall increases substantially farther south, exceeding 1,500 mm (59.1 in) annually in some areas.

"In the far interior of the country, in the region of Tambacounda, particularly on the border of Mali, temperatures can reach as high as 54 °C (129.2 °F)." Wiki

There may be more species present than listed below, but the extreme heat in many areas is probably beyond the tolerance of most Saturniidae species. I have included many species for which there is no documentation for Senegal, but I think the species listed below have a good chance of appearing in Senegal, based on reports from Guinea.

Recently Alain Coache (AC) granted me permission to post may beautiful images from Senegal. Thierry Bouyer (TB) provided ids for Alain, and I have added some species to the list based on those images and determinations. One specimen, a Bunaeopsis species was not determined, so I have posted a link for it below, listed as Bunaeopsis species from Senegal AC/TB.

Gonimbrasia hecate fifth instar, Kaolock, Saalum, Senegal,
October 7, 2004, courtesy of JH, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Bunaea alcinoe fifth instar, Senegal,
July 2010, courtesy of Elspeth Kenny.

Athletes n. bousqueti Darge, 1988, WO?
Aurivillius xerophilus AC/TB
Bunaea alcinoe (Stoll, 1780), EK, Wiki
Bunaeopsis hersilia (Westwood, 1849), Wiki; probably not; more likely some other Bunaeopsis species
Bunaeopsis species from Senegal AC/TB
Cirina butyrospermi WO?
Epiphora albida (Druce, 1886), WO?
Epiphora bauhiniae (Guérin-Méneville, 1832), MJ, Wiki, AC/TB
Gonimbrasia hecate Rougeot, 1955, JH, AC/TB
Gonimbrasia occidentalis Rothschild, 1907, EF/Wiki
Goodia falcata (Aurivillius, 1893), WO?
Imbrasia obscura Butler, 1878, PVP
Imbrasia senegalensis (Olivier, 1792), Wiki; not sure if this is a valid species
Holocerina angulata (Aurivillius, 1893), Wiki
Holocerina prosti AC/TB
Lobobunaea acetes (Westwood, 1849), WO?
Lobobunaea christyi AC/TB
Micragone nenia (Westwood, 1849), WO?, Wiki
Micragone nenioides Rougeot, 1979, WO?, Wiki. AC/TB
Orthogonioptilum nimbaense Rougeot, 1962, WO?
Pseudantheraea discrepens (Butler, 1878), WO?
Pseudimbrasia deyrollei (Thomson, J., 1858) AVV, Wiki, AC/TB
Pseudobunaea alinda (Drury, 1782), WO?
Pseudobunaea meloui (Fabricius, 1793), Wiki; AC/TB
Pseudobunaea vingerhoedti Bouyer, 2004, WO?
Pseudobunaea irius (Fabricius, 1793), Wiki; AC/TB
Pseudobunaea t. pratorum Darge, 1999, WO?
Rohaniella jebbae Sharp, 1899, WO?
Usta yaere AC/TB

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