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Updated as per Pinhey's Emperor Moths of South and South-Central Africa, 1972, January 19, 2006 Updated as per Bouyer's Catalogue of African Saturniidae, 1999, January 19, 2006 Updated as per Cooper's The Emperor Moths of KwaZulu-Natal, 2002, January 19, 2006 Updated as per personal correspondence with Thierry Bouyer, May 2006 |
This site has been created by
Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelcom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.
TAXONOMY:Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 |
Wind Beneath My Wings |
Heniocha dyops, The Western Marbled Emperor (wingspan: males: 65-85mm; females: 70-95mm), flies extensively in southern Africa, predominantly in the western, drier parts, with males being considerably smaller than females.There are isolated populations in Kenya and southern Angola with the predominant range in Namibia, northern Cape province, and northern Natal and Transvaal in South Africa, and Botswana: Ghanzi; and Zimbabwe. Julius Busingye reports it from Uganda. Thierry Bouyer confirms it in Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi. I suspect is also flies in Zambia and Mozambique, although I have no official confirmation for those two countries. Forewings are more heavily marked than those of H. marnois. Cooper and Cooper suggest the common name, Cloud Emperor, for its heavy dark markings and its presence in eastern as well as western South Africa. |
Larvae feed on Acacia mellifera (Black thorn), Blue thorn (A. erubescens), and Mountain thorn (A. hereroensis) in Namibia. Elsewhere the larvae also feed on Knob thorn (A. nigrescens) and Black Monkey thorn (A. burkei).
Heniocha dyops male, Gaborone, Botswana,
March 4, 2014, courtesy of Dian.
Heniocha dyops male, Okavango Delta, Botswana,
November 26, 2013, courtesy of Charles J. Sharp, Creative Commons license.
Heniocha dyops male, Thakadu Game Farm, Ghanzi, Botswana,
February 2, 2006, courtesy of Muir.
Small, shiny, bluish-white eggs are deposited in small rows of 6-10 on foodplant leaves and twigs.Incubation is a relatively short 8-10 days. Larvae are at first gregarious becoming more solitary after the second instar when they begin hiding on the undersides of leaves and branches. Silvery spines provide excellent camouflage against a light sky. Lengths of 65 mm are achieved before larvae descend trees to pupate in soil. |
Acacia erubescens..... |
Blue thorn |
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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.
Pinhey indicates the species name dyops is from the Greek
and means "double-eyed".