DISTRIBUTION:

The Twin-line Emperor, Nudaurelia anna or Imbrasia anna (wingspan: 110-130mm), flies in coastal South Africa in habitat with elevations up to 100m.

Julius Busingye reports it from Uganda. Teemu Klemetti reports it from Tanzania. Gonimbrasia allardi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a synonym for anna according to Bouyer. Eric van Schayck reports it from Kenya.

The nominate species or one of its subspecies is probably also taken in Zambia and possibly ?? in Rwanda and Burundi.

The Natural History Museum reports it from Mombasa, Kenya, and Zanzibar (Unguja Island), Tanzania.

Cooper and Cooper suggest the new genus name 'Pinheyella' for this species.

Nudaurelia anna male, Kenya, courtesy of John Kamps.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The Nudaurelia anna moth flies in South Africa from September to November and from January to April, probably as two generations annually.

Gingerbread Palm (Hyphaene crinita) and Llala Palm (Hyphaene coriacea) are the preferred foodplants.

Excessive harvestng of palm fronds may threaten this species in South Africa.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Eclosion is probably at night 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 AND PUPAE:

Oval, dirty-white eggs are deposited in clusters on host plant foliage.

Larvae, gragarious in early instars, solitary in final instar, reach maturity at approximately 90mm in length.

Nudaurelia anna larvae on Washingtonia, Kenya, courtesy of Franz Ziereis.

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 personal communication (FZ). It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Hyphaene coriacea ........ Hyphaene crinita Washingtonia (FZ)

Llala palm Gingerbread palm Palm

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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 Nudaurelia means 'naked gold' (Pinhey).

The species name "anna", is probably from mythology where Anna is the sister of Dido. (Pinhey).

Nudaurelia anna male, on my home computer only, Cooper and Cooper.

Nudaurelia anna larva, on my home computer only, Cooper and Cooper.