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Updated as per Pinhey's Emperor Moths of South and South-Central Africa, 1972, March 21, 2006 Updated as per Bouyer's Catalogue of African Saturniidae, 1999, March 21, 2006 Updated as per personal communication with Sebastian Brandner, wingspans, Elone, August 2007 Updated as per personal communication with Bill Garthe (131mm male as set, probably slightly less); May 3, 2012 |
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 |
Wind Beneath My Wings |
Thierry Bouyer confirms it for Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so I suspect it also flies in the People's Republic of the Congo. Bill Garthe reports it from Republic of Central Africa.
Gonimbrasia amathusia male, Ogooue-Ivindo, Gabon, November 2009,
courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.
Nudaurelia amathusia male, 131mm as set, Republic of Central Africa,
courtesy of Bill Garthe, confirmed by Thierry Bouyer.
Nudaurelia amathusia female, Elone, Cameroon, March 6 2007,
wingspan 136mm, courtesy/copyright
Sebastian Brandner, id by Thierry Bouyer
The forewing pm line is dark, very straight and broad, and relatively close to a slightly convex outer margin. The forewing cell spot is flattened toward the body, rounded toward the outer margin and is outlined with a pale orange "ring".
Nudaurelia amathusia male, Alembe, Province Moyen-Ogooue,
Gabon,
20th to 24th January 2003, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.
Both sexes fly at night with the males coming in to lights around midnight, the scenting time of the females.
Nudaurelia amathusia (TB) male, Mt. Cameroon, SW Region, Cameroon,
August 8, 2010, courtesy of Forbi Lucas.
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 Nudaurelia
means 'naked gold' (Pinhey).
The species name "amathusia", is probably for someone of that name,
or it could be from the Greek word, meaning "leveled with the sand"
(Pinhey).