Gonimbrasia occidentalis
Updated as per Pinhey's Emperor Moths of South and South-Central Africa, 1972, May 10, 2006
Updated as per Bouyer's Catalogue of African Saturniidae, 1999, October 1, 2006
Updated as per SATURNIDES DE COTE D'IVOIRE (SCI), S.HERDER, X.LERY, G.FEDIERE, NKKOUASSI, 1989; September 18, 2010
Updated as per personal communication with E. Fenton (Mar Lodj, Fatick Region, Senegal, June 28, 2010); November 30, 2012
Updated as per personal communication with Nigel Voaden (Bambari, Ouaka, Republic of Central Africa, June, 2005), August 28, 2014

Gonimbrasia occidentalis
gon-ihm-BRAY-zee-uhMox-sih-den-TAY-lihs
Rothschild, 1907

Gonimbrasia occidentalis?? male courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

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

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Tribe: Bunaeini, Packard, 1902
Genus: Gonimbrasia, Butler, 1878

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DISTRIBUTION:

Gonimbrasia occidentalis flies in
the Republic of Central Africa; and in
Burkina Faso (Rodolphe Rougerie) and is celebrated on a postage stamp for
Mali. Felix Stumpf reports it from
Ivory Coast: Korhogo (June) (SCI). Eric van Schayck reports it from
Chad.

Thierry Bouyer reports it from as far east as
Kenya.

I suspect ?? it may also be in Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, including Bioko Island.

The image to the right, courtesy of Dr. Linda K. Barnett, is from Gambia. Id by Thierry Bouyer. It has also been reported in Senegal.

Gonimbrasia occidentalis male, Bambari, Ouaka, Republic of Central Africa,
June, 2005, courtesy of Nigel Voaden.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

SCI reports a June flight in Korhogo, Ivory Coast.

Gonimbrasia occidentalis (female), Chad, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.
http://www.saturniidae-mundi.de/Oschayck/schayck.htm

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Eclosion is from underground pupae.

Both sexes fly at night with the males coming in to lights around midnight, the scenting time of the females.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Larvae pupate under soil near base of trees.

Larval Food Plants


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.

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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.

The genus name Gonimbrasia means "angled one liking rain" according to Pinhey.

The species name occidentalis indicates an original collecting site that is western.