DISTRIBUTION:

Imbrasia amieti, formerly treated as a subspecies of C. forda, (wingspan: males: 102mm; females: 114mm) flies in Ayos (Centre Province), Elone (Sud Province) and Yokadouma (Est Province), Cameroon, and possibly in other locales. BOLD systems lists it for Gabon. I suspect it also flies in Republic of Central Africa, and possibly further east, although in the eastern African nations I believe it is replaced by Cirina forda.

Cirina amieti or forda?? male, Lubanga, Angola,
October 19, 2007, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Cirina amieti possibly flies south of Gabon into western Congo, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, and possibly as far south as Angola and Namibia. I am not sure where the range of amieti stops and forda begins.

Cirina amieti, male, Elone (Sud Province), Cameroon,
April 2006, wingspan: 102mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

Cirina amieti, male (verso), Elone (Sud Province), Cameroon,
April 2006, wingspan: 102mm. courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

The cell markings are larger and more well defined in amieti as compared to the more western butryospermi.

Cirina amieti male, courtesy of Franz Ziereis.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing in April, and probably at other times. Michelle Constanza, via Antoine Guyonnet, reports a February 3, 2011, flight in Yokadouma, Est Province, Cameroon.

Cirina amieti, female, Elone (Sud Province), Cameroon,
April 2006, wingspan: 114mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

Cirina amieti, female (verso), Elone (Sud Province), Cameroon,
April 2006, wingspan: 114mm. courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING: Imbrasia amieti adults mate and fly at night and both sexes come to lights, the males usually later than the females. The urge to oviposit is so strong that females seldom visit lights without having first deposited all their eggs. Males have slight projections on the lower wings. Both sexes rest with all wings folded together rather than flattened. Imbrasia amieti female, courtesy of Ken Thorne.

Cirina amieti male 96mm; female: 108mm; Cameroon, courtesy of Johnny Marchant.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Eggs are laid in a single large cluster around the tips of foodplant twigs.

Larvae are extremely gregarious in all instars. They are smooth with thin yellow stripes in the first three instars before taking on the hairy, speckled appearance of the final two moults.

Pupation is under the soil.

Imbrasia amieti male antennae, Yokadouma, Est Province, Cameroon,
February 3, 2011, courtesy of Michelle Constanza, via Antoine Guyonnet.

Imbrasia amieti male (verso), Yokadouma, Est Province, Cameroon,
February 3, 2011, courtesy of Michelle Constanza, via Antoine Guyonnet.

Imbrasia amieti male, Yokadouma, Est Province, Cameroon,
February 3, 2011, courtesy of Michelle Constanza, via Antoine Guyonnet.

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.

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.

"Imbrasia", according to Pinhey, 1972, is from the Latin 'imber' meaning rain. Flight, in many cases, may accompany the onset of the rainy season or moths may seem to prefer humid, misty or even rainy nights.

The species name "'forda' (Latin) means a cow in a calf. Perhaps the tailed and rounded hind wings resemble the udders of a cow" (Pinhey 1972).

The subspecies name 'amieti' is honourific for Amiet.