Tagoropsis ikondae
lefright"> Updated as per Pinhey's Emperor Moths of South and South-Central Africa, 1972, April 25, 2006
Updated as per Bouyer's Catalogue of African Saturniidae, 1999, April 25, 2006

Tagoropsis ikondae ikondae
tagh-gor-OPS-ihsmmEYE-kond-ay
Rougeot, 1973

Tagoropsis ikondae ikondae male, courtesy of Thierry Bouyer.

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: Urotini, Packard, 1902
Genus: Tagoropsis, R. Felder, 1874

MIDI MUSIC

"African Midi Music"

ON.OFF
<bgsound src="Dafrican.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

The Tagoropsis ikondae moth flies in high altitude forests in Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Uganda, Africa.

There are both yellow and brown adult forms.

Subspecies, based on distinctive male genitalia, have recently been described:
Tagoropsis ikondae centralis (Bouyer 2002) from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda;
Tagoropsis ikondae nyikensis (Bouyer 2000) from Malawi (Nyika Plateau);
Tagoropsis ikondae murphyi (Bouyer 2000) from southern Malawi (Mount Zomba) and southern Tanzania.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Tagoropsis ikondae larvae feed on

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females emit an airbourne pheromone at night and males track the scent with their antennae by flying in a zigzag pattern into the wind.

Tagoropsis ikondae ikondae female courtesy of Thierry Bouyer.

Not all males have the darker forewings of the specimen at top of page.

Tagoropsis ikondae ikondae yellow male, courtesy of Thierry Bouyer.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:


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.

The word Tagoropsis means a 'leading aspect', probably indicating ease of identification (Pinhey).

The species name, 'ikondae', is honourific for a girl/woman named Ikonda.