GYNANISA OF THE WORLD

The Gynanisa are members of the Bunaeini tribe of Subfamily Saturniinae, Family Saturniidae. These moths fly in Africa and surrounding islands. Moths are usually classified as Gynanisa Walker, 1855, with Ancalaespina being a junior synonym for Gynanisa.

Gynanisa maja larva copyright protected courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

Much work still needs to be done on the classification of species from Africa.

Rolf Oberprieler recently (March 2005) wrote that he feels G. minetti is a junior synonynm of Gynanisa westwoodi, and G. jama may also by synonymous with Gynanisa westwoodi.

In April 2006, Rolf adds, "The taxonomy of Gynanisa is still in a mess, and until someone revises the genus properly, the chaos will only increase with more and more new “species” being described in oblivion of the evidently significant intraspecific variability of probably all the species. As far as I am concerned, there are only about 4 “good” species in Gynanisa: the big G. albescens (= carcassoni, prob. = hecqui), the forest G. ata (= daula, prob. = thiryi, murphyi), the eastern savannah G. westwoodi (= minettii, terrali) and the southern G. maja (= tata, simplex, nigra). G. germeauxi (= festa) may also be a distinct, northern species, and I’m currently unsure where jama belongs. I’ve extended my study of the genitalia of the genus a bit beyond G. maja but not yet fully evaluated the differences and variation. Can’t see any grounds for distinguishing the Zimbabwean population (“nigra”) from G. maja though. The latter is terribly variable in southern Africa, between and also within populations, and without grasping the full spectrum of variation, regarding different character sets, any splitting off of some “abnormal” type is unwarranted. Am hoping to conclude this study sometime in the course of this year."

Thierry Bouyer (May, 2006) maintains that G. minettii is a synonym of G. jama.

P indicates an image is available.

Listing of Gynanisa

P albescens Sonthonnax, 1904 Malawi, Tanzania; maybe Democratic Republic of the Congo and maybe Kenya
Gynanisa carcassoni, Rougeot, 1974, is same as albescens according to Thierry Bouyer and Rolf Oberprieler
P arba Darge, 2008, Ethiopia
P ata Strand, 1911 e. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, s.-central Africa; probably Uganda, PR Congo; possibly Angola
Gynanisa daula, Tams, 1930, is same as ata according to Bouyer and Oberprieler
N basquini Bouyer, 2008, Malawi

N commixta Darge, 2008, Tanzania: Mbeya Region, savanne Ilongo–Igurusi, 1770 m, 19.xi.2004

N germeauxi Rougeot, 1973 Ethiopia (BOLD); Afars and Issas; maybe Kenya
The above moth is treated as a synonym of jama by Thierry Bouyer, but as a subspecies of hecqui by BOLD systems.
N germeauxi festa Rougeot, 1978 Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo
P hecqui Darge, 1992 Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, (Uganda (BOLD)), ?? Tanzania; valid species according to Bouyer, probably same as germeauxi festa TB
P jama Rebel, 1915 Tanzania, maybe Malawi
minettii Darge, 2002 confirmed synonym of jama (Thierry Bouyer)
N kenya Darge, 2008, Kenya: Kibwezi, 05.xii.1992

P maja (Klug, 1836) South Africa, Swaziland, into Zambia, Angola
Gynanisa macromaja, Strand, 1920, is same as maja
Gynanisa simplex, Bouvier, 1927, is same as maja
Gynanisa isis, (Westwood, 1841), is same as maja
Gynanisa tata, Wallengren, 1858, is same as maja
P maja terrali Bouyer, 2001 Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, possibly to Mali
N meridei Darge, 2008, South Africa, Stofberg, 21.xi.2001
P murphyi Bouyer, 2001 Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe
P nigra Bouvier,1927 Malawi An aberration rather than a distinct species according to R. Oberprieler; valid species according to Thierry Bouyer.
probsti (Bouyer, 2001) (transféré du genre Protogynanisa)
P thiryi Bouyer, 1992 Democratic Republic of the Congo
P uganda Darge, 2008 Uganda: Mont Napak, Moroto, ii. 2005
P westwoodi Rothschild, 1895 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya
P zimba Darge, 2008, Namibia, Karibib, i.1992,

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