Vegetia ducalis
veh-JEE-tee-uhmmdoo-KAY-lihs
Jordan, 1922

Vegetia ducalis pair, copyright protected, courtesy of Kirby Wolfe.

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 ducalis, the Ducal Princeling, (wingspan: males: 30-42mm; females: 40-51mm), flies in the western Cape Province from Cape Town, South Africa, north to Springbok in Namaqualand mainly in mountainous regions near the coast. The moth is characterized by a "3" shaped clearspot on the left forewing.

The white post median band on the forewing is also very scalloped. The forewing outer margin is convex and the lighter coloured segments of the outer band are only slightly longer than the dark spacings along the veins.

It is expected this moth will be found along the mountain ridges in Aus and on the Huib Plateau in southern Namibia.

Vegetia ducalis male, 42mm, BOLD Systems, on my home computer only.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This moth flies from April to July and then again in August and September. The larvae feed on Wild Rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus), and other Eriocephalus species.

Vegetia ducalis female, 51mm, 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 do not seem attracted to lights. Kirby Wolfe witnessed a pairing that lasted about 45 minutes, shortly after midday.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE: Eggs are laid in clusters of 10-20 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. Pupation is in a thin, parchment like cocoon near the base of the hostplant. Image, copyright protected, by Kirby Wolfe.

Vegetia ducalis cycle, courtesy/copyright Kirby Wolfe.

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.

Artemisia californica Eriocephalus africanus Eriocephalus ericoides Eriocephalus microcephalus...... Eriocephalus umbellatus Eriosema

California sagebrush Wild Rosemary Wild Rosemary Wild Rosemary Wild Rosemary Blue bush

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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, "ducalis" is from the Latin and refers to " a leader or duke" (Pinhey).