DISTRIBUTION:

Antherina comorana flies in Comoros, an island chain between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique.

Patrick Basquin also reports it on the islands of Mayotte and Moheli in the same island chain, and indicates it has been elevated to full species status from a subspecies of suraka.

Males from different islands appear different so there is either considerable variation within the species or there are two or more species/subspecies involved. Note the very straight forewing pm line and the much produced forewing apex of the male from Moheli compared to those features in the male from Grand Comore. The male from Anjouan at the top of the page has a different juncture of the forewing pm line to the costa than is found in either of the two specimens directly below.

Antherina comorana male, Grande Comore,
courtesy of Patrick Basquin.

Antherina comorana male, Moheli,
courtesy of Patrick Basquin.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

In its natural habitat, comorana probably broods continuously and larvae probably feed on Oleander, (Nerium), Stopper/Waterboom (Eugenia) and Maesa.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females attract the night flying males with an airbourne pheromone. Males are more vividly coloured than females and wings tend to be more falcate.

Antherina comorana female, Mayotte,
courtesy of Patrick Basquin.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

When larvae first emerge, they are semi-gregarious.

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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Return to Antherina Genus

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.

The genus name "Antherina", comes from the Latin and Greek word "anther", relating to males. 'Ina' as a suffix means 'a smaller version of' or 'in the likeness of'. Male Antheraea suraka have well developed antennae, and moth colouration and hindwing eyespots are suggestive of the Antheraea genus.

The species name 'suraka' might be the original name of the famous Greek city of Syracuse.

The subspecies name, 'comorana', comes from Comoros, the type location of this species.