DISTRIBUTION:

Goodia oxytela inhabits eastern Africa and possibly flies to the west in Cameroon. Pinhey reports it from northern Angola and possibly Zambia. The Natural History Museum reports it from Uganda and Victoria and Nyanza, Congo. Thierry Bouyer reports it from Kenya and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This moth flies from .

Goodia oxytela larvae probably feed upon Aframomum melegueta of the Zingiberaceae family.

Goodia oxytela female, courtesy/copyright Thierry Bouyer.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females fly early at night with males on the wing around midnight, the calling time of females. Both sexes come in to lights.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Eggs are deposited in small groups of 4-12 on twigs or hostplant leaves. Larvae are solitary feeders.

Larvae descend the foodplant at pupation time and construct a flimsy cocoon in debris at the base of the hostplant.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are the primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae and on various internet sites. 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.

Aframomum melegueta..........

Aframomum melegueta

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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.

Goodia might?? be honourific for botanist Peter Good or collector A. I. Good.

The species name 'oxytela' is from the Greek and means sharp ended. (Pinhey 1972).

Goodia oxytela (male), Cameroon, courtesy of Eric van Schayck.
http://www.saturniidae-mundi.de/Oschayck/schayck.htm
I (Bill Oehlke) think the moth depicted above is more likely G. falcata.

In May of 2006, Thierry Bouyer writes,
"Bill,
"There is big confusion in the Goodia. The nomenclature has recently changed in the nubilata / falcata group.

"Nubilata was misidentified by Jordan who redescribed it under the name sentosa. What Jordan indentified as nubilata is in fact falcata. The nomenclature followed by all authors and collectors was obviously that of Jordan, but this needs to be corrected now.

"The nomenclature of this group is
Goodia
(new classification for the nubilata group, cfr Bouyer, T., 2004c – Nouveaux Saturniidae africains de Bioko et note complémentaire sur Goodia Holland, 1893 (Lepidoptera). Ent. Afr. 9 (2) : 43-48, Pl. VI, figs 3.)
nubilata Holland, 1893
= Goodia nodulifera (Karsch, 1893) (Tagoropsis)
= Goodia sentosa Jordan, 1922
canui Bouyer, 2004c
falcata (Aurivillius, 1893) (Tagoropsis)
(= Goodia nubilata sensu Jordan, 1922 and auct.)
oxytela Jordan, 1922

"These are the reasons why the same photo which I identify as falcata, someone else identifies as nubilata, or, that which I identify as nubilata, someone else identifies as sentosa."

The four species in the G. nubilata group are remarkably similar. G. canui is recognized by geography. I have placed a "*" where the orangey-yellow arc meets the costa. A vertical line from the star down will bisect the cloven yellow patch in G. falcata whereas in the other three species the vertical line will be more or less tangent to the inner edge of the patch. G. nubilata can be distinguised from G. oxytela based on the differences in shape of the forewing anal angle. In nubilata the anal angle forms almost a ninety degree angle with the inner and outer margins. In oxytela the angle seems much more obtuse.

In G. falcata, which is consistently dark, the teeth emanating from the marginal areas are more clearly defined and pointed tips are more prominently marked with black.