DISTRIBUTION:

The Lobobunaea acetes moth (forewing length: approximately 72-75mm) (approximate wingspan: males: 120-132-135mm (BG); females: 110mm) flies in equatorial Africa:
Cameroon: Est Province: Yokadouma (AG); Sud Province: Elone (SB); and in
the Central African Republic: Sangha: Ndoki PN.

Julius Busingye reports it from
Uganda. Felix Stumpf reports it from
Ivory Coast: Adiopodoumé, Anguédédou, Forêt du Banco (SCI). Eric Van Schayck reports it from
Ghana.

I suspect it is also in Togo (confirmed by Alan Marson and Leroy Simon), Benin and Nigeria. The Natural History Museum reports it in Sierra Leone and eastern Guinea.

Thierry Bouyer reports it in
Gabon: La Lope NP, Ogooue-Ivindo (TD); Franceville, Haut-Ogooue (JLA) and
Democratic Republic of the Congo. I suspect it also flies in People's Republic of the Congo.

I now have confirmation of Equatorial Guinea, at least on Bioko Island.

Visit beautiful images of male, female and larva of Lobobunaea acetes from larva reared on privet, La Lope National Park, Ogooue-Ivindo, Gabon, courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Visit Lobobunaea acetes male, Yokadouma, Est Province, Cameroon, courtesy of Constanza Michelle, via Antoine Guyonnet.

Lobobunaea acetes male, courtesy of Martin Jagelka.

Lobobunaea acetes male, Elone (Sud Province) Cameroon,
February 2006, wingspan 127mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

Lobobunaea acetes male (verso), Elone (Sud Province) Cameroon,
February 2006, wingspan 127mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

The ground colour is a reddish brown. The outer line on the forewing is relatively close to the outer margin which is noticeably lighter in colour in the males. Females have a relatively large hyaline area at the outer end of the forewing cell.

Visit Lobobunaea acetes males, recto and verso, Franceville, Gabon, November 2007, courtesy of Jean-Louis Albert.

Lobobunaea acetes female, courtesy of Martin Jagelka.

Lobobunaea rautenstrauchorum Lampe, 1994, predominantly from western Africa, is a gray form of L. acetes according to Thierry Bouyer, personal communication, April 2005.

Lobobunaea acetes #0002, male, Cameroon, courtesy of Eric van Schayck

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Lobobunaea acetes moths are on the wing in January-February and probably at other times. Jean-Louis Albert sent me images from August and also from late November in Franceville, Gabon, and Jerome Teva Paire has sent an image from November in Riba, Gabon, so it seems there are at least two-three broods. Thibaud Decaens took a female in La Lope NP, Gabon, in November 2009. Larvae, (reared on privet), from eggs pupated and a male hatched on May 1, 2010.

SCI reports it on the wing in Ivory Coast: Adiopodoumé (November, December, January), Anguédédou (near Abidjan, January), and Forêt du Banco (near Abidjan, October). Bill Garthe reports a July 2009 flight in Cameroon.

Larvae feed upon Mango (Mangifera) and hawthorn (Crataegus). Alan Marson, December 4, 2010, reports great success with Liquidambar styraciflua and at least preliminary success with a second brood on Eucalyptus gunnii and Ligustrum.

Visit Lobobunaea acetes all five instars on sweetgum, courtesy of Alan Marson.

Visit Lobobunaea acetes all five instars on sweetgum, Togo, courtesy of Leroy Simon.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females attract males by releasing an airbourne pheromone at night. Males fly into the wind in a zig-zag pattern and pick up the scent plume with their highly developed antennae.

Lobobunaea acetes #0003 female, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

Lobobunaea acetes #0004, female, Ghana, courtesy of Eric van Schayck
Forewing apex restoration by Bill Oehlke; original probably like Teemu Klemetti image.

Lobobunaea acetes female (wingspan 110mm), Kibi, eastern Region, Ghana,
January 7, 2006, N06*09.058 W000*33.759, 333 m., 25C, courtesy of Henrik Bloch.

In the February newsletter, I had identified the following moth as a female Lobobunaea melanoneura. I now think it is more likely the more common Lobobunaea acetes, although there seems to be a considerable reduction in the red suffusions of the hindwing, and the hindwing ocellus breaks the course of the pm line. Perhaps as Patrick Basquin has suggested a DNA analysis shoud be done for this one.

Lobobunaea melanoneura (more probably acetes) female, 127mm, Cameroon,
courtesy of Kelly Price.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Females deposit eggs at night on hostplant foliage. Larvae feed and mature in approximately six weeks. At maturity, the larvae leave the host plant to pupate in subterranean chambers.

Thibaud Decaens writes, "Larvae of Lobobunaea pupate into the soil. I usually place them on humid humus as soon as they start their dispersion phase (their colour change and they start to walk, looking for a good place to pupate). When larvae enter their pre-nymphal phase, I place them on the surface of a box filled with humid humus until they pupate. Then I periodically humidify the humus, and emergence of adults usually occurs about 1-2 months after pupation (well, that was the case for L. phaedusa and L. goodii)."

Lobobunaea acetes larva, courtesy of Martin Jagelka.

Lobobunaea acetes larva, courtesy of Martin Jagelka.

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.

Eucalyptus gunnii (AM) Ligustrum (TD) Liquidambar styraciflua (AM) ....... Mangifera Crataegus

Cider Gum Privet Sweetgum Mango Hawthorn

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.

The genus name Lobobunaea, is from the Greek and refers to a lobed hill-dweller. The genus specimen type is Lobobunaea phaedusa, males of which have a valve with a subapical lobe. The hindwings are also lobed at the anal angle. It may also be a montane species.

The species name acetes probably refers to the vinegary colouration of the wings.

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