Orthogonioptilum prox

Updated as per T. Bouyer's Catalogue, 1999, February 12, 2006
Updated as per Darge's Saturniidae I, February 12, 2006
Updated as per personal communication with Thierry Bouyer (Gabon) 2007
Updated as per All Leps Barcode of Life, January 2008
Updated as per Saturnafrica #8, February 2011, Darge (Ouesso, northern Congo); February 1, 2014

Orthogonioptilum prox
or-thoh-GOH-nee-oh-TIL-umMPROCKS
Karsch, 1892

Orthogonioptilum prox male, Cameroon, courtesy of Michel Lapoint

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Micragoninae, Cockerell, 1914
Genus: Orthogonioptilum, Karsch, 1893

MIDI MUSIC

"Moon River"
copyright C. Odenkirk

ON.OFF

DISTRIBUTION:

The Red Prince, Orthogonioptilum prox (wingspan: males: 55-65mm; females: 82-86mm, maybe larger), flies in
southwestern Cameroon (Malimba) and southcentral Cameroon (Elone, Sud Province).

Thierry Bouyer reports it also flies in Gabon, confirmed by All Leps Barcode of Life for Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Haut-Ogooue. ALBCoL indicate it also flies in the
south-central Central African Republic and
western Congo near Brazzaville and in Ouesso (SA#8). I suspect it also flies in Equatorial Guinea including Bioko Island.

The male forewing is quite falcate with a very rectangular anal angle. Basic ground colour is reddish-brown with an orangey-brown discal cell area.

The hindwing is orangey-brown and usually has a single, small cell spot.

Orthogonioptilum prox probably (wingspan: 60mm), Cameroon, courtesy of Vytautas Visinskas.

Orthogonioptilum prox dorsal, wingspan: 61mm, Elone (Sud Province) Cameroon,
July 2006, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, identification by Bill Oehlke.

O. prox ??, (male), Ghana, courtesy of Eric van Schayck

Orthogonioptilum prox ventral, wingspan: 61mm, Elone (Sud Province) Cameroon,
July 2006, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, identification by Bill Oehlke.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

This moth probably flies in February, April, July and October-November.

Orthogonioptilum prox larval hosts are unknown.

Orthogonioptilum prox, female, Elone, Cameroon,
wingspan 90mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, tentative id by Bill Oehlke

Orthogonioptilum prox, female (verso), Elone, Cameroon,
wingspan 90mm, courtesy of Sebastian Brandner, tentative id by Bill Oehlke

It is very difficult to distinguish between prox and neoprox. However, the female above shows considerable red and is quite dark. Generally Philippe Darge shows prox as a slightly more westerly species than south-central Cameroon. If you have corrections/comments, please send them to Bill Oehlke.

The verso image is same moth as recto, without the digital repair to the right wing (recto) apex. Sebastian indicates the moth without the repair has a wingspan of 87mm (big for both prox and neoprox). It may be even larger than the 90mm I have indicated.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

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.

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