Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast, in western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia, has not been a peaceful place since 1999. Several attempted coups, some successful, some not, have kept the country in a constant state of turmoil.

Slightly larger than New Mexico, Ivory Coast has a varied climate: tropical along the coast and semiarid in the far north. There are three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), and hot and wet (June to October).

Most of the land is flat with some undulating plains. There are mountains in the northwest, with Mont Nimba the highest point at 1,752 m.

The country is fairly rich in natural resources but deforestation is becoming a major problem.

Human activity is centered in the coastal area except for the capital city, Yamoussoukro. Otherwise, the country is largely uninhabited.

Ivory Coast probably has a diversified Saturniidae population. Unfortunately the country is an illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for local consumption. It is also known as a transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin to Europe and occasionally to the US, and for Latin American cocaine destined for Europe and South Africa. Packages out of Ivory Coast to U.S. or Canadian destinations would likely be opened and inspected by Customs. There should be no problem, however, with shipments of dead specimens.

Below is an active checklist for Ivory Coast. Teemu Klemetti (TK) has been especially helpful. Many species reported are taken from Alain van Vaive (AVV) and Felix Stumpf (FS) pricelists for dead specimens.

The Attacini spin cocoons; the Urotini and the Bunaeini are earth pupators whose larvae are often used for food. I am also expecting that this list will be expanded to include more of the Orthogonioptilum and probably species from other genera as well. Help is always appreciated. Attacini: Epiphora boolana TK/WDG Epiphora liberiensis = perspicua?; SCI Epiphora rectifascia ileshana SCI Epiphora vacuna TK Epiphora vacunoides BOLD Urotini: Eudaemonia argiphontes SCI/WDG Eudaemonia argus AVV/WDG Eudaemonia troglophylla SCI Pselaphelia gemmifera SCI ??/WDG ?? Pselaphelia neglecta PD Pseudan. discrepans SCI/WDG Wulf Dieter Gaiser (WDG) has recently (December 1, 2010) sent me a list of specimens he has collected in Ivory Coast. I will be updating the individual files with the dates and locations Dieter has provided. On December 6, Wulf writes, "Bunaeopsis hersilia, Bunaeopsis macrophthalma, Bunaeopsis nigericola, Nud/Gonimbrasia jamesoni and Pseudobunaea irius are most likely subspecies to be determined." I have added Ganse, Yapo, Tiassale, Alepe, Vavoua and Tai to the Ivory Coast map, based in Dieter's data.

Bunaeini: Ath. albicans BOLD/WDG A. ethra ogouenis SCI/WDG Athletes nyanzae SCI Aurivillius arata SCI/WDG Auriv. jolyanorum TB/WDG Auriv. triramis SCI/WDG Aurivillius xerophilus WDG Bunaea alcinoe SCI/WDG Bunaeopsis licharbus WDG Bun. macrophthalma SCI Bunaeopsis nigericola PD Ci. butyrospermi AVV/WDG Gonim. hecate FS/WDG Gon. occidentalis FS/WDG Imb. epimethea FS/WDG Imbrasia obscura FS Lobobunaea acetes FS/WDG Lobobuaea goodii SCI/WDG L. melanoneura SCI/WDG Lobo. phaedusa FS/WDG L. falcatissima WDG L. christyi phaeaux WDG Nudaurelia alopia FS/WDG Nudaurelia anthina SCI ?? Nudaurelia dione FS/WDG Nud. eblis bucholzi WDG Nudaurelia emini SCI/WDG Nudaurelia jamesoni SCI Nudaurelia xanthoma WDG Pseud. deyrollei AVV/WDG Pseudob. alinda WO/WDG Pseduobunaea heyeri TB Pseudob. illustris FS/WDG Pseudobunaea irius AVV Pseudob. meloui AVV/WDG P. tyrrhena SCI/WDG Pseudob. t. neglecta PD Pseudob. t. pratorum PD Roh. pygmaea jebbae WDG Micragonini: Carnegia mirabilis FS Decacorda fletcheri SCI Goodia falcata WO? Goodia hierax SCI Goodia nubilata SCI Goodia sentosa SCI Holcerina agomensis SCI Holoc. angulata FS/WDG Holocerina occidentalis TB Ludia obscura laeta SCI Ludia orinoptera styx FS M. agathylla FS/WDG Micragone ducorpsi TB Micragone herilla SCI/WDG Micragone joiceyi SCI Micragone morettoi BOLD Micra. nenia AVV/WDG Micragone nenioides WO Ortho. adiegetum WDG Ortho. bouyeri AVV/WDG Ortho. brunneum PD Ortho. chaminadei AVV Ortho.csomaense IT?? Ortho. deletum PD O. falcatissim. AVV/WDG Ortho. nimbaense AVV/PD Ortho. occidentalis PD Ortho. vestigiatum PD

SCI also reports Micragone herilloïdes (Bouvier, 1936), which has been synonymized with one of the other Micragone species. They also report an undetermined Bunaeopsis species from Korhogo (June) and Lamto (May); an undetermined Orthogonioptilum species from Adiopodoumé (October), Azaguié (Frebruary), Réserve de Bouna (February), Lamto (May), Mokta (June).

SCI's (1989) inclusion of Orthogonioptilum prox Anguédédou (January), Azaguié (February-March), Barrage d'Ayamé (May), Lamto (May), Mokta (June) and Forêt de Yapo (December) is problematic, as Philippe Darge (1995) does not include this species west of Cameroon.

SCI also includes Pseudobunaea tyrrhena tyrrhena in Ivory Coast: Adiopodoumé (April June, October), Azaguié (February), Barrage d'Ayamé (January), Mont Tonkoui (March), but Darge only includes subspecies neglecta and prattorum.

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