DISTRIBUTION:

Epiphora manowensis (wingspan: males: 135-138mm; females: ) is one of the few Attacini in Africa. It flies in
southern Tanzania;
northern Malawi: ;
northeastern Zambia: Mbala: and
Zimbabwe.

I have very little information about many of the African species. Distribution/range, flight times, images, etc., would be greatly appreciated.

Send info and/or pictures to oehlkew@islandtelecom.com. Every little bit helps!

Possibly this species is from Manow, Tanzania, but that is just a guess. It also flies in Zimbabwe (RO) and probably Mozambique.

Rolf Oberprieler writes, "Epiphora manowensis: not "manowiensis", definitely occurs in Zimbabwe (as "vacuna" in Pinhey 1972), feeds prob. on Helinus in the wild, but I've reared it successfully on Ziziphus mucronata in Pretoria. It was indeed described from Manow (old German mission station) in southern Tanzania, and the larva illustrated by Dollman many years ago. The Zimbabwe larva is a little different, but it's seemingly all the same species. Different from E. pelosoma though (error in D'Abrera!), whose larva is quite different."

In another posting (May 2005) Dr. Oberprieler writes, "The pics you sent are E. pelosoma, not E. manowensis (note spelling, "manowiensis" is incorrect and an error in D'Abrera and many others).

"D'Abrera (as Pinhey etc.) is also wrong in treating manowensis as a synonym of pelosoma; I have reared both and the larvae are VERY different. Have illustrated the E. manowensis larva in 1994 (OBERPRIELER, R. G., & NÄSSIG, W. A. 1994. Tarn- oder Warntrachten - ein Vergleich larvaler und imaginaler Strategien bei Saturniinen (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 15(3): 267-303.) but not the E. pelosoma larva. The larva of E. manowensis was also reared and illustrated by Dollman from Solwezi.

"The moths are distinct in their typical localities (E. manowensis in Zimbabwe, Malawi and southern Tanzania (Manow), and E. pelosoma in NE-Tanzania (Uluguru & Usambara Mts.)) but it seems to get a bit messy in between and I haven't looked into this problem in detail. Anyhow, the specimens on the photo's agree well with the holotype of E. pelosoma and not with typical E. manowensis. Don't believe D'Abrera!"

Epiphora manowensis male, Mughese Forest Reserve, Chitipa, northern Malawi,
courtesy of John Kamps, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Manow, Tanzania, is very close to the Mughese Forest Reserve in northern Chitipa in northern Malawi. I have gone with determination of manowensis for the image from the Mughese Forest Reserve, but I note the hindwing marginal maculation is quite different from the image sent to me by Dave Rolfe from Mbala, northeastern Zambia. Either my determination is wrong, Dave's determination is wrong or there is considerable variation in this species.

I also note that there have been many descriptions of new Epiphora species during the last few years. As DNA barcoding techniques are applied more frequently, there will likely be more new species described and some species synonymized. Rolf Oberprieler did not have benefit of barcoding techniques when he sent info above, but I do believe he is correct in stating pelosoma does not extend into southern Tanzania. It is hard to say if manowensis extends into Zimbabwe and Mozambique, or if the specimens to which Rolf refers would be one or more of the more recently described species or yet undescribed species.

I am now quite convinced, based on Thierry Bouyer's images of Epiphora murphyi and Epiphora manowensis on BOLD systems' data base that the Dave Rolfe image from Zambia is most likely E. murphyi, *1, and the John Kamps image is most likely E. manowensis. Thierry Bouyer is the describer of E. murphyi .

Epiphora manowensis female, 126mm, Thierry Bouyer, BOLD systems,
on my home computer only.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Dave Rolfe reports a February flight in Mbala in northern Zambia (possibly this is E. murphyi).

Epiphora manowensis larvae feed on Helinus and Ziziphus mucronata.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Epiphora manowensis females extend a scent gland from the posterior tip of the abdomen to call in the night-flying males.The pair remains coupled until the following evening.

The wings of the female are more rounded than those of the male.

Epiphora male, undetermined, Nyika NP, Rumphi District, Malawi,
possibly E. manowensis, possibly something new, courtesy of John Kamps.

Epiphora female, undetermined, Nyika NP, Rumphi District, Malawi,
possibly E. manowensis, possibly something new, courtesy of John Kamps.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

The cocoon is double walled and resembles the cocoon of the Hyalphora.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and/or on various internet sites. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Helinus Ziziphus mucronata.....

Helinus Buffalo Thorn

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The pronunciation of scientific names is troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly accepted English pronunciation of Greek names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized scientific names.

The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages, are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal ears as they read.

There are many collectors from different countries whose intonations and accents would be different.

Some of the early describers/namers chose genus and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or history.

Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour a contempory friend/collector/etc.

"Epiphora" is a medical condition of insufficient drainage of the tear film from the eyes. The eyes are often watery, lids inflamed and crusted. I do not know the the reason(s) for the choice of Epiphora as the genus name, but perhaps the large hyaline areas on the wings of mythimnia (specimen type) with the thick white and yellow borders, were suggestive of watery, encrusted eyes.

The species name "manowensis" is for the specimen type locality, Manow, Tanzania.

Epiphora manowensis male, D'Abrera, on my home computer only.

Epiphora manowensis female, D'Abrera, on my home computer only.

Epiphora manowensis male, Tanzania, sorry, image not available.

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