DISTRIBUTION:

Gonimbrasia alcestris flies in Usambara in northeastern Tanzania.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Gonimbrasia alcestris ?? (male), Tanzania, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.

The shape of the forewing apex is very different in the Eric van Schayck image as compared to the Thierry Bouyer image at the top of the page. I doubt that such variability exists within the species and the Eric van Schayck image is probably of another closely related species.

Magamba, West Usambara Mountains, northeastern Tanzania, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

Teemu Klemetti writes of Magamba Forest, West Usambara Mountains, northeastern Tanzania, "I found there for example: Gonimbrasia alcestris, Epiphora pelosoma, Pseudaphelia roseibrunnea, Micragone nyasae, Pseudobunaea tyrrhena and many others that are still under identification....".

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Eclosion is from underground pupae.

Both sexes fly at night with the males coming in to lights around midnight, the scenting time of the females.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

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.

The genus name Gonimbrasia means "angled one liking rain" according to Pinhey.

The reason for the species name alcestris is unknown to me. In Greek mythology, a woman named Alcestis (without the "r") agreed to die in place of her husband and was subsequently rescued from Hades by Hercules. There is the remote possibility Weymer misspelled Alcestis.