Nudaurelia oyemensis
Updated as per Saturnafrica #8, February 2011, Darge (Ouesso, northern Congo); February 1, 2014

Gonimbrasia (Nudaurelia) oyemensis
Rougeot, 1955

Nudaurelia oyemensis, female, R.C.A., Damara, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Saturniinae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Tribe: Bunaeini, Packard, 1902
Genus: Imbrasia, Hubner, [1819] 1816 or
Genus: Nudaurelia Rothschild, 1895

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DISTRIBUTION:

Nudaurelia oyemensis (wingspan: males: 97mm; females: 115mm) flies in Gabon (Natural History Museum), Central African Republic, Zaire (DRC) (where it is known as Mboyo) and in Cameroon, Africa.

I suspect (confimred in SA#8) it also flies in : Ouesso, the People's Republic of the Congo or Congo Brazzaville.

Thierry Bouyer, 1999, indicates oyemensis is the same as melanops.

Larvae serve as a valuable human food source after smoking and/or drying.

Nudaurelia oyemensis male, wingspan: 97mm, July 2006,
captured on Mount Etinde (small Mount Cameroun) during a heavy thunder storm,
1700m, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, identification by Bill Oehlke.

Nudaurelia oyemensis male, verso, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner.

FLIGHT TIMES AND LARVAL HOSTS:

Nudaurelia oyemensis has been taken in July and in December in southern Cameroon. It may also fly in other months.

Larvae feed upon Robinia pseudoacacia, Laburnum and Fagus. In the DRC it has been reported on Entandrophragma candollei.

Nudaurelia oyemensis female, Elone, Cameroon, December 2, 2006,
wingspan 115mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, id by Bill Oehlke.

Nudaurelia oyemensis female, Elone, Cameroon, December 2, 2006,
wingspan 115mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, id by Bill Oehlke.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Both sexes are active at night. Males come in to lights around midnight when females are scenting.

Nudaurelia oyemensis male, courtesy of Teemu Klemetti

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Pupation is in the soil in a subterranean chamber.

Larval Food Plants


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

Entandrophragma candollei......
Fagus
Hymenocardia acida
Laburnum
Pteridium sp.
Robinia pseudoacacia

Entandrophragma candollei
Beech
Hymenocardia acida
Bean tree
Pteridium sp.
Black locust/False acacia

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Oyem is the capital of Woleu-Ntem province in northern Gabon.