Imbrasia obscura
im-BRAY-see-uhMob-SKURE-uh
Butler, 1878

Imbrasia obscura male, Zaire, courtesy of Heinz Rothacher.

Imbrasia ertli male, Sakania, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
January 8, 2013, courtesy of Nigel Voaden,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke; might be Imbrasia obscura.

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: Imbrasia, Hubner, 1819

MIDI MUSIC Wind Beneath My Wings copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="wings.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Imbrasia obscura (wingspan: males: approximately 113mm: females: 115-128mm) flies in
Equatorial Guinea including Bioko Island,
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire): Katanga: Kolwezi (AH); and
Cameroon: Central Region: Yaounde (FL); South West Region: Mt. Cameroon (FL).
Larvae serve as a valuable human food source after smoking and/or drying.

Felix Stumpf reports them from
Ivory Coast: (Azaguié (June), Barrage d'Ayarné (January); Mont Tonkoui (March) (SCI)). The Natural History Museum reports them in
Equatorial Guinea;
Old Calabar (Nigeria); and Cameroon. Thierry Bouyer confirms they also fly in
Gabon: Haut-Ogooue: Franceville (JLA), and
Kenya;
so I suspect it also flies in
the Central Africa Republic and in
PR Congo: Ouesso (confirmed in SA# 8).

It probably also flies in Ghana (confirmed by Alan Marson), Togo, Benin, and possibly west of Ivory Coast. The image below from Sierra Leone seems to support those interpolations, as does the image from Senegal.

Imbrasia obscura male, Sierra Leone,
May 22, 2010, courtesy of Judith, id by Bill Oehlke.

Imbrasia obscura male, Kolwezi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
courtesy/copyright of Angela Hertrampf, id by Bill Oehlke

Imbrasia obscura male, Kolwezi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
courtesy/copyright of Angela Hertrampf, id by Bill Oehlke

Jean-Louis Albert sends these images from Franceville, Gabon, October 2004.

Imbrasia obscura male, (recto, wingspan 113mm), Franceville, Gabon.

Imbrasia obscura male, (verso), Franceville, Gabon.

Imbrasia obscura female, Basse Casamance, Ziguinchor, southwestern Senegal,
July 20, 2011, courtesy of Pieter van Pamel.

Imbrasia obscura female, (recto, wingspan 108mm), Franceville, Gabon.

Imbrasia obscura female, (verso), Franceville, Gabon.

Imbrasia obscura female, Mt. Cameroon, South West Region, Cameroon,
August 8, 2010, courtesy of Forbi Lucas, id by Thierry Bouyer.

Visit Imbrasia obscura, females, Franceville, Gabon, October 30, 2007, 115mm, and October 29, 2007, 123mm, November 30, 2007, 122mm, recto and verso, courtesy of Jean-Louis Albert. The linked page has been updated, May 2008, to include a "yellower" female taken on April 28, 2008.

Rolf Oberprieler reports the Fine Emperor, Imbrasia affinis, (Bouvier, 1926) from Zimbabwe. Thierry Bouyer equates Imbrasia affinis with Imbrasia obscura.

Note the whitish suffusion on the outside of the outer band in I. obscura. Rolf Oberprieler writes, "I. epimethea doesn’t have this whitish suffusion on the outside of the outer band."

Imbrasia obscura female, Zaire, courtesy of Heinz Rothacher.

FLIGHT TIMES AND LARVAL HOSTS:

Moths are on the wing in Gabon in April and October-November and possibly at other times. Forbi Lucas reports them on the wing in central and southwestern Cameroon in August. There are reports from Ivory Coast for January, March and June (SCI).

Imbrasia obscura larvae feed upon Euphorbiaceae and Rhamnaceae.

Musase (Albizia ferruginea) of the Fabaceae Family has been reported as a larval host in Bas Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Imbrasia obscura male, Zaire, courtesy of Heinz Rothacher.

Imbrasia obscura male, Franceville, Gabon,
102mm, October 13, 2008, courtesy of Jean-Louis Albert.

Imbrasia obscura male (verso), Franceville, Gabon,
102mm, October 13, 2008, courtesy of Jean-Louis Albert.

Imbrasia obscura male, Yaounde, Central Region, Cameroon,
August 6, 2010, courtesy of Forbi Fuhbi Lucas.

Imbrasia obscura male, Ghana,
courtesy of Jason Wright, via Alan Marson.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Both sexes are active at night. Males come in to lights around midnight when females are scenting.

Imbrasia obscura female, Zaire, courtesy of Heinz Rothacher.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

White eggs are laid in large numbers on host plant twigs.

Imbrasia obscura eggs, Bas Congo, central western Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Larvae remain gregarius throughout all instars.

Imbrasia obscura fourth instars, on Albizia ferruginea,
Bas Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Imbrasia obscura fourth-fifth instar?, on Parkia biglobosa ?? questionable id of plant,
Bas Congo, cebntral western Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Imbrasia obscura fourth-fifth instars??, on Maesopsis eminii ?? questionable id of plant,
Bas Congo, cebntral western Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Imbrasia obscura?? fifth instar, on Acacia auriculiformis.

The picture immediately above seems a greater match for Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) jamesoni, and I will also post it to that page.

Pupation is in the soil in a subterranean chamber.

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.

Albizia ferruginea ....... Euphorbiaceae Maesopsis eminii Parkia biglobosa Rhamnaceae

Musase Euphorbiaceae Umbrella tree Néré Rhamnaceae

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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.

"Imbrasia", according to Pinhey, 1972, is from the Latin 'imber' meaning rain. Flight, in many cases, may accompany the onset of the rainy season or moths may seem to prefer humid, misty or even rainy nights.

The species name "obscura" is from the Latin, meaning dark. (Pinhey 1972).