DISTRIBUTION:

Nudaurelia amathusia (wingspan: males: approx. 115-128(BG) mm; females: 136mm) flies in
Cameroon: South West Region: Mt Cameroon; Sud Region: Elone and
Gabon: Province Moyen-Ogooue: Alembe; Ogooue-Ivindo, and
possibly also in other surrounding countries in west-central Africa.

Thierry Bouyer confirms it for Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so I suspect it also flies in the People's Republic of the Congo. Bill Garthe reports it from Republic of Central Africa.

Gonimbrasia amathusia male, Ogooue-Ivindo, Gabon, November 2009,
courtesy of Thibaud Decaens.

Nudaurelia amathusia male, 131mm as set, Republic of Central Africa,
courtesy of Bill Garthe, confirmed by Thierry Bouyer.

Thierry Bouyer, 1999, treats this moth as a subspecies of Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) xanthomma.

Nudaurelia amathusia female, Elone, Cameroon, March 6 2007,
wingspan 136mm, courtesy/copyright Sebastian Brandner, id by Thierry Bouyer

Ground colour is an even orangey-brown. The submarginal areas of all wings are generously dusted with charcoal grey/dark brown scales.

The forewing pm line is dark, very straight and broad, and relatively close to a slightly convex outer margin. The forewing cell spot is flattened toward the body, rounded toward the outer margin and is outlined with a pale orange "ring".

Nudaurelia amathusia male, Alembe, Province Moyen-Ogooue, Gabon,
20th to 24th January 2003, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

The Nudaurelia amathusia moth flies in the month of January and probably in other months. Forbi Lucas reports an August flight in South West Region of Cameroon.

Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) anthinoides courtesy of Teemu Klemetti.
Thierry Bouyer indicates this is probably amathusia / xanthomma.

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.

Nudaurelia amathusia (TB) male, Mt. Cameroon, SW Region, Cameroon,
August 8, 2010, courtesy of Forbi Lucas.

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 Nudaurelia means 'naked gold' (Pinhey).

The species name "amathusia", is probably for someone of that name, or it could be from the Greek word, meaning "leveled with the sand" (Pinhey).