Vegetia dewitzi
veh-JEE-tee-uhmmdeh-WITZ-eye
(Maassen & Weyding, 1885) (Ludia)

Vegetia dewitzi male, courtesy of Paul Jenkins

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Saturniinae Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Tribe: Micragonini Cockerell in Packard, 1914 (1902) Genus: Vegetia, Jordan, 1922

MIDI MUSIC "Moon River" copyright C. Odenkirk MIDI CITY ON.OFF <bgsound src="moon.mid" LOOP=FOREVER>

DISTRIBUTION:

Vegetia dewitzi, The Dewitz Princeling, (wingspan: males: 30-41mm; females: 45-60mm), is restricted to the Karoo in South Africa. It also flies in Aus in southern Namibia. The moth is characterized by a concentric spot on the forewing. The creme coloured outer band is broken into fairly even segments by the narrow black veins. The forewing outer margin is relatively straight.

Vegetia dewitzi male, 39mm, South Africa, BOLD Systems, on my home computer only.

Vegetia dewitzi male, 41mm, South Africa, BOLD Systems, on my home computer only.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This moth flies as a single generation in January/February unless there have been years of good rains. The larvae feed on Wild Rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus), and other Eriocephalus species.

Vegetia dewitzi female, 58mm, South Africa, BOLD Systems, on my home computer only.

Vegetia dewitzi female, 60mm, South Africa, BOLD Systems, on my home computer only.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Day-flying males are active in the morning and early afternoon in search of scenting females. Night-flying females are attracted to lights during their ovipositing flights.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are laid in clusters of 8-20 on hostplant twigs, but larvae are solitary daytime feeders when they move to outward, exposed branches of hostplant. At night larvae hide near dense centers of bush. Disturbed larvae curl up and expose urticating spines and warning colouration.

Pupation is in a thin, parchment like cocoon near the base of the hostplant.

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.

Eriocephalus ericoides.....

Wild Rosemary

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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.

According to Pinhey, 1972, "Vegetia" is from the Latin and means lively or vigorous and probably refers to the daytime flight of the males.

The species name, "dewitzi" is honourific for Dr. H. Dewitz.