DISTRIBUTION:

Gonimbrasia rectilineata (Gonimbrasia richelmanni) (wingspan: males; approx 110mm; females: approx. 100mm) flies in Africa: Tanganyika, Tanzania (NHM); Malawi. Julius Busingye reports it from Uganda.

Pinhey reports it is widespread in Zambia; Shaba (Katanga) Dem. Rep. Congo, North Malawi, Angola, Uganda, Tanzania and Western Kenya.

Johnny Marchant has sent the following pair and indicates they were labelled as coming from Cameroon. Thierry Bouyer has confirmed them as G. rectilineata. However, there may have been an error in the recording data as G. rectilineata is pretty well established as an eastern African species.

Gonimbrasia rectilineata pair, Cameroon ??, wingspan 110mm, courtesy of Johnny Marchant.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Nigel Voaden reports a December flight in southeastern DRC.

Gonimbrasia rectilineata larvae feed on Erythrophleum africanum, Julbernardia paniculata and Diplorhynchus condylocarpon. Uapaca kirkiana and Syzygium owariense are also reported as hosts.

Gonimbrasia rectilineata male, Kolwezi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
courtesy/copyright of Angela Hertrampf, tentative id by Bill Oehlke.

Gonimbrasia rectilineata male, Sakania, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
December 20, 2012, courtesy of Nigel Voaden.

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.

Gonimbrasia rectilineata female courtesy of Teemu Klemetti.

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Larvae are similar to the form of those of G. belina. Larvae are reddish-brown with black patches around the spiracles. Green and blue speckles cover the larvae and there are short red spines bearing white hairs.

Larvae pupate under soil near base of trees.

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.

Erythrophleum africanum Julbernardia paniculata Diplorhynchus condylocarpon....... Syzygium owariense Uapaca kirkiana

African sasswood Julbernardia paniculata Horn-pod tree Syzygium owariense Wild loquat

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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 species name rectilineata refers to the straight outer line on the forewing. (Pinhey).