Bunaea caffraria, is equated with Bunaea alcinoe in Bouyer's 1999 Catalogue. B. caffra and many others are also equated with B. alcinoe.

Philippe Darge recognizes caffraria as a valid subspecies of Bunaea alcinoe.

Of Bunaea alcinoe, Rolf Oberprieler writes, "One could denote the southern form (as on your pic) as “subspecies” B. alcinoe caffra Huebner, 1819. Not caffraria Stoll, 1790, which is a junior primary homonym and NOT an available name."

Thierry Bouyer, May 2012, indicates the specimen at the top of the page from northern Kenya is Bunaea caffraria.

It is obvious that there are many different opinions regarding this species, and the opinions seem to be evolving, but I believe that current thinking is that Bunaea caffraria is the species present in northern Kenya and Ethiopia.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The African Emperor adults emerge in the spring, often after a warm rain.

Bunaea caffraria larvae probably feed on Celtis, Croton, Cussonia, Ekebergia, Maesa, Terminalia, Gymnosporia and many other foods, including privet, plum and hawthorn in captivity.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

This species emerges at dusk and females attract the night flying males with an airbourne pheromone.

The pair remains coupled for a relatively short time. Females have thinner and blacker antennae and their abdomens are much broader and forewings are more rounded than in males.

Bunaea caffraria female, courtesy of Christian Kutzscher,
from SDEI - Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut Collection

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Eggs are large, round, and cream coloured, and have a deep indentation at the micropyle.

Larvae prefer fresh food and a warm, humid atmosphere. In the final instar, airy conditions are preferred.

When larvae are disturbed they will lash their heads and front segments violently back and forth.

Rough, black pupae are formed deep (10-15 cm) underground. Under artificial conditions pupae will emerge after being kept moist following immersion in tepid water.

"Regarding the taxonomy and nomenclature of the species, one CAN’T use the name caffraria for the W-C African form (“subspecies”) of B. alcinoe. Firstly because caffraria, established by Stoll (1790) as Phalaena (Attacus) caffraria, is a junior primary homonym of Phalaena caffraria Linnaeus, 1767 in Geometridae and thus NOT an available name in Saturniidae. Its replacement name is caffra Huebner, 1819. Secondly because Stoll’s name was actually erected for the southern African form, not the W-C African one, so if you recognise such subspecies in B. alcinoe, caffra can only apply to a southern (or south-eastern) one.

"But, as I wrote the other day, such a division of B. alcinoe into subspecies is problematic also for other reasons. Firstly, it is difficult to distinguish (separate) a possible W-C and S-E form (“race”, “subspecies”) because there don’t appear to be clear-cut differences and a clear geographical division between such forms. In theory this might occur on the eastern border of the Central African rainforests, but it seems no-one has investigated this in detail yet. Secondly, we can’t be certain to which population the name alcinoe really applies, as already Stoll didn’t know where the type specimen came from, and his illustration is not clear enough either. If alcinoe was described from somewhere in West Africa, this would be the valid name for any W-C form or “subspecies”, and caffra the valid name for a S-E form. However, if the type specimen of alcinoe actually also came from southern (or eastern) Africa, the S-E form would carry the name alcinoe (with caffra its synonym), and the W-C form would take the next-oldest name established for it. Oberthuer (1910) investigated this issue in the past but didn’t resolve it, and I’m not sure whether anyone since has found Stoll’s type and re-interpreted it.

"If alcinoe is not referable to the W-C form, working out this next-oldest name is again a thorny issue. The oldest names clearly assignable to the W-C form would be one of Dufrane’s (alberici, atlantica, katangensis), all described in 1953 from Zaire. However, there are also Rothschild’s tricolor from Ethiopia (1895), Oberthuer’s alcinoina from Mpala in Tanzania (1910) and Jordan’s nubica from Sudan (1910), and one would first have to sort out whether these populations belong to the W-C or the S-E form. There’s also punctigera Wallengren, 1860, for which we also have no type locality and thus no clear evidence of where it is from. The last 5 available species-group names are mostly from southern Africa and all referable to the S-E form.

All in all quite a mess, as you can see. The best option for the time being (April 2005) is therefore not to attempt any division into subspecies and just refer to the species as Bunaea alcinoe wherever it occurs. Just forget about caffraria and caffra and all this subspecific stuff. Except for Madagascar that is, the species there (B. aslauga) is different.

"Hope this clarifies things. It’s a rather convoluted affair, unfortunately."

Rolf had written in response to email I shared from Howard Romack:

Howard's Email:

"Hi Bill,

I collected caterpillars- brick orange in color with black spines- several years ago while collecting in Liberia. I was there for six weeks, and many of the moths and other arthropods were difficult to classify, but I managed to obtain a few pupae from these large, polyphemus-sized larvae. Eventually the adults emerged, and with the help of specialists, discovered that the moths were B. a. caffraria. The larva you pictured (#6 on another site) is nothing like those, and there were hundreds of them tumbling out of the trees, (a trait that these big caterpillars do preceeding burrowing into the ground) that I found in Liberia. I might also tell you that I have one bilateral gynandromorph of this moth that, after soaking the pupa in warm water, finally emerged among the others."

Howard also reports a "book" in which he found the "description of the larva, from Nigeria, of B. a. caffraria Stoll (= caffra Hubner = Nytalops Wallengren =Derbania Oberthur) The Nigerian larva changes color to "brick-red" in the third instar....

This moth is a spectacular creature- it emerged here at home in an aquarium after I submerged the pupae in a sink of warm water. They are truly armor plated, and obiously won't emerge until the next rainy season following pupation. Oftentimes, heavy rains wash them out in windrows! The adults were very common at our collecting lights over there."

I will post any additional information that becomes available. I have also added these comments to the Bunaea alcinoe caffra file. Thanks to both Howard and Rolf for shared information.

Thanks also to Thierry Bouyer who is May 2012 identified the moth at the top of the page from northern Kenya as Bunaea caffraria.

Larval Food Plants

It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the anticipated foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Bauhinia reticulata Cassonia spicata Celtis Crataegus Croton Ekebergia meyeri Ekebergia ruepellii Gymnosporia senegalensis..... Harpephyllum caffrum Khaya senegalensis Ligustrum Maesa lanceolata Prunus Pyrus malus Quercus robar Rhus glabra Terminalia catappa

Kanchan Cassonia Hackberry Hawthorn Croton Ekebergia Ekebergia Gymnosporia Kaffir plum Red mahogany Privet Maesa Cherry Apple English oak Smooth sumac Indian almond

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